Best chess openings for White for beginners
Lines where White makes the last move, ranked by White's score — wins plus half the draws — in rated Lichess games between players rated under 1400. Among the 500 most-played lines, those reached in at least 50,000 games at this level.
| # | Opening | Moves | Games | White / Draw / Black | White score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C57 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Knight Attack | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 |
11.8M | 56 / 3 / 41 | 57.7% |
| 2 | C44 Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 |
2.3M | 55 / 3 / 42 | 56.7% |
| 3 | C34 King's Gambit Accepted: King's Knight's Gambit | 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 |
5.5M | 55 / 3 / 42 | 56.6% |
| 4 | C44 Scotch Game: Lolli Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 Nxd4 4. Nxd4… |
8.7M | 54 / 5 / 42 | 56.0% |
| 5 | B00 Nimzowitsch Defense | 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 |
3.7M | 54 / 4 / 42 | 55.8% |
| 6 | D06 Queen's Gambit | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 |
43.9M | 54 / 4 / 43 | 55.5% |
| 7 | C44 Scotch Game | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 |
30.9M | 53 / 4 / 43 | 55.3% |
| 8 | C21 Danish Gambit | 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 |
3.7M | 54 / 3 / 43 | 55.2% |
| 9 | C30 King's Gambit | 1. e4 e5 2. f4 |
15M | 53 / 3 / 43 | 55.0% |
| 10 | C42 Petrov's Defense | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 |
12.8M | 53 / 4 / 43 | 55.0% |
| 11 | C53 Italian Game: Classical Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 |
4.6M | 53 / 4 / 43 | 54.9% |
| 12 | D31 Queen's Gambit Declined: Queen's Knight Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 |
4.5M | 53 / 4 / 43 | 54.9% |
| 13 | D00 Queen's Pawn Game: Accelerated London System | 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 |
35.4M | 53 / 4 / 43 | 54.8% |
| 14 | D02 Queen's Pawn Game: London System | 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 |
3.6M | 52 / 4 / 43 | 54.5% |
| 15 | D02 Queen's Pawn Game: London System, with e6 | 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bf4 |
3.2M | 53 / 4 / 44 | 54.5% |
| 16 | D11 Slav Defense: Modern Line | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 |
1.2M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 54.3% |
| 17 | D50 Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 |
993K | 52 / 4 / 44 | 54.2% |
| 18 | B00 Nimzowitsch Defense: Declined Variation | 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 |
7.2M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 54.2% |
| 19 | A43 Benoni Defense: Old Benoni | 1. d4 c5 2. d5 |
1M | 53 / 3 / 44 | 54.1% |
| 20 | D10 Slav Defense | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 |
2.9M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 54.1% |
| 21 | C42 Petrov's Defense: Three Knights Game | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 |
19.2M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 54.0% |
| 22 | C42 Petrov's Defense: Italian Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bc4 |
13.3M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 54.0% |
| 23 | C03 French Defense: Tarrasch Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 |
157K | 52 / 3 / 44 | 54.0% |
| 24 | C41 Philidor Defense | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 |
19.7M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 54.0% |
| 25 | D37 Queen's Gambit Declined: Three Knights Variation | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 |
1.5M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 53.8% |
| 26 | A21 English Opening: King's English Variation, Reversed Sicilian | 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 |
6.5M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 53.8% |
| 27 | C55 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Modern Bishop's Opening | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 |
9.5M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 53.7% |
| 28 | C60 Ruy Lopez | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 |
37.3M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 53.7% |
| 29 | A41 Old Indian Defense | 1. d4 d6 2. c4 |
2.2M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 53.6% |
| 30 | C40 King's Knight Opening | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 |
324.8M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 53.6% |
Numbers: rated blitz, rapid and classical games on Lichess between players rated under 1400, fetched for the 500 most-played lines and refreshed monthly. Each name appears once, as its most-played line. At this level, sharp lines in which a natural-looking reply goes wrong score highest — a high score says how a line does in practice, not that it is objectively best.