Best chess openings for White for intermediate players
Lines where White makes the last move, ranked by White's score — wins plus half the draws — in rated Lichess games between players rated 1400 to 1799. 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 | C44 Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 |
7.4M | 56 / 3 / 41 | 57.3% |
| 2 | C44 Scotch Game: Lolli Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 Nxd4 4. Nxd4… |
12.4M | 54 / 5 / 41 | 56.9% |
| 3 | C21 Danish Gambit | 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 |
9.3M | 55 / 3 / 42 | 56.5% |
| 4 | C34 King's Gambit Accepted: King's Knight's Gambit | 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 |
16.4M | 54 / 3 / 43 | 55.8% |
| 5 | C44 Scotch Game | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 |
43.6M | 53 / 4 / 42 | 55.5% |
| 6 | C30 King's Gambit | 1. e4 e5 2. f4 |
40.3M | 54 / 3 / 43 | 55.3% |
| 7 | D06 Queen's Gambit | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 |
90.3M | 53 / 4 / 43 | 55.0% |
| 8 | C57 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Knight Attack | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 |
11.6M | 53 / 3 / 44 | 54.5% |
| 9 | D31 Queen's Gambit Declined: Queen's Knight Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 |
16.2M | 52 / 4 / 43 | 54.5% |
| 10 | C03 French Defense: Tarrasch Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 |
1.7M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 54.4% |
| 11 | A21 English Opening: King's English Variation, Reversed Sicilian | 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 |
13.2M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 54.3% |
| 12 | A00 Polish Opening | 1. b4 |
9.5M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 54.2% |
| 13 | D37 Queen's Gambit Declined: Three Knights Variation | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 |
6.3M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 54.1% |
| 14 | C20 Center Game | 1. e4 e5 2. d4 |
34M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 54.0% |
| 15 | C53 Italian Game: Classical Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 |
10.9M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 54.0% |
| 16 | B00 Nimzowitsch Defense | 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 |
4.9M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 53.8% |
| 17 | D11 Slav Defense: Modern Line | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 |
4M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 53.8% |
| 18 | D02 Queen's Pawn Game: London System, with e6 | 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bf4 |
6.4M | 51 / 4 / 44 | 53.7% |
| 19 | D00 Queen's Pawn Game: Accelerated London System | 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 |
46.7M | 52 / 4 / 44 | 53.7% |
| 20 | D50 Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 |
5M | 51 / 4 / 44 | 53.7% |
| 21 | C42 Petrov's Defense: Italian Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bc4 |
12.8M | 52 / 3 / 45 | 53.6% |
| 22 | C60 Ruy Lopez | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 |
55.2M | 51 / 4 / 44 | 53.6% |
| 23 | C41 Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 |
8.1M | 51 / 4 / 44 | 53.5% |
| 24 | D10 Slav Defense | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 |
10.6M | 51 / 4 / 44 | 53.4% |
| 25 | D02 Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 |
43.3M | 51 / 4 / 44 | 53.4% |
| 26 | C55 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Modern Bishop's Opening | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 |
11.7M | 51 / 4 / 45 | 53.3% |
| 27 | C41 Philidor Defense | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 |
30.1M | 51 / 4 / 45 | 53.3% |
| 28 | D02 Queen's Pawn Game: London System | 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 |
7.3M | 51 / 5 / 44 | 53.3% |
| 29 | C40 King's Knight Opening | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 |
373.7M | 51 / 4 / 45 | 53.2% |
| 30 | D15 Slav Defense: Three Knights Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 |
3.8M | 51 / 4 / 45 | 53.2% |
Numbers: rated blitz, rapid and classical games on Lichess between players rated 1400 to 1799, 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.