Best chess openings for White for experts

Lines where White makes the last move, ranked by White's score — wins plus half the draws — in rated Lichess games between players rated 2200 and up. 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	B30 Sicilian Defense: Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack	`1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5`	1.7M	51 / 7 / 41	55.0%
2	D11 Slav Defense: Modern Line	`1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3`	1.9M	51 / 8 / 41	55.0%
3	A07 King's Indian Attack	`1. Nf3 d5 2. g3`	1.6M	51 / 9 / 41	54.8%
4	C41 Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4`	222K	51 / 7 / 42	54.6%
5	C46 Three Knights Opening	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3`	956K	50 / 9 / 41	54.3%
6	D02 Queen's Pawn Game: London System, with e6	`1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bf4`	362K	50 / 8 / 42	54.0%
7	D00 Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation	`1. d4 d5 2. Nc3`	904K	51 / 7 / 43	54.0%
8	A04 Zukertort Opening	`1. Nf3`	14.5M	50 / 8 / 42	53.9%
9	C25 Vienna Game	`1. e4 e5 2. Nc3`	1.4M	50 / 7 / 43	53.8%
10	D37 Queen's Gambit Declined: Three Knights Variation	`1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3`	2.3M	49 / 8 / 42	53.5%
11	A45 Trompowsky Attack	`1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5`	1.7M	50 / 8 / 43	53.5%
12	A16 English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, Queen's Knight Variation	`1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3`	1.9M	50 / 8 / 43	53.4%
13	A00 Hungarian Opening	`1. g3`	1.8M	50 / 7 / 43	53.4%
14	D15 Slav Defense: Three Knights Variation	`1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3`	2M	50 / 8 / 43	53.3%
15	D06 Queen's Gambit	`1. d4 d5 2. c4`	8.6M	49 / 8 / 43	53.3%
16	D50 Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation	`1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5`	650K	49 / 8 / 43	53.3%
17	D02 Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation	`1. d4 d5 2. Nf3`	5.4M	49 / 9 / 42	53.2%
18	B22 Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation	`1. e4 c5 2. c3`	2.2M	49 / 8 / 43	53.1%
19	A10 English Opening	`1. c4`	10.9M	49 / 8 / 43	53.1%
20	A43 Benoni Defense: Old Benoni	`1. d4 c5 2. d5`	1.4M	50 / 6 / 44	53.0%
21	D31 Queen's Gambit Declined: Queen's Knight Variation	`1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3`	2.9M	49 / 8 / 43	53.0%
22	D10 Slav Defense	`1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3`	1.7M	49 / 7 / 43	52.9%
23	A21 English Opening: King's English Variation, Reversed Sicilian	`1. c4 e5 2. Nc3`	1.5M	49 / 7 / 44	52.9%
24	D00 Queen's Pawn Game: Accelerated London System	`1. d4 d5 2. Bf4`	1.8M	49 / 8 / 43	52.9%
25	C41 Philidor Defense	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4`	233K	50 / 6 / 44	52.8%
26	C20 Center Game	`1. e4 e5 2. d4`	912K	50 / 6 / 44	52.8%
27	A00 Van Geet Opening	`1. Nc3`	1.1M	49 / 7 / 44	52.8%
28	B23 Sicilian Defense: Closed	`1. e4 c5 2. Nc3`	4.4M	49 / 7 / 44	52.7%
29	C03 French Defense: Tarrasch Variation	`1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2`	1.8M	49 / 8 / 43	52.7%
30	C44 Scotch Game	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4`	1.8M	49 / 8 / 44	52.6%

Numbers: rated blitz, rapid and classical games on Lichess between players rated 2200 and up, 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.