Best chess openings for White in master games

Lines where White makes the last move, ranked by White's score — wins plus half the draws — in over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ (the Lichess masters database). Among the 500 most-played lines, those reached in at least 300 games at this level.

#	Opening	Moves	Games	White / Draw / Black	White score
1	A43 Benoni Defense: Old Benoni	`1. d4 c5 2. d5`	6,695	45 / 29 / 25	60.2%
2	A16 English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, Queen's Knight Variation	`1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3`	33K	37 / 42 / 21	58.3%
3	C41 Philidor Defense	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4`	615	40 / 36 / 24	58.0%
4	D10 Slav Defense	`1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3`	25K	35 / 46 / 19	57.9%
5	D50 Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation	`1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5`	7,914	32 / 50 / 17	57.5%
6	C42 Petrov's Defense	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5`	23K	25 / 64 / 11	57.1%
7	E70 King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation	`1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4`	74K	38 / 38 / 24	57.0%
8	D06 Queen's Gambit	`1. d4 d5 2. c4`	204K	32 / 50 / 18	56.9%
9	D31 Queen's Gambit Declined: Queen's Knight Variation	`1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3`	52K	34 / 46 / 20	56.8%
10	C10 French Defense: Paulsen Variation	`1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3`	71K	36 / 42 / 22	56.8%
11	D11 Slav Defense: Modern Line	`1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3`	75K	30 / 53 / 17	56.8%
12	C03 French Defense: Tarrasch Variation	`1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2`	44K	36 / 42 / 22	56.7%
13	D15 Slav Defense: Three Knights Variation	`1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3`	63K	30 / 52 / 17	56.5%
14	C41 Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4`	3,451	39 / 36 / 26	56.4%
15	E61 King's Indian Defense	`1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3`	122K	35 / 43 / 22	56.2%
16	B12 Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation	`1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5`	33K	35 / 43 / 22	56.2%
17	A07 King's Indian Attack	`1. Nf3 d5 2. g3`	38K	34 / 44 / 22	56.1%
18	B00 Pirc Defense	`1. e4 d6 2. d4`	51K	38 / 36 / 26	56.1%
19	B30 Sicilian Defense: Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack	`1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5`	39K	34 / 43 / 22	56.0%
20	C23 Bishop's Opening	`1. e4 e5 2. Bc4`	9,323	34 / 43 / 22	55.9%
21	C00 French Defense: Normal Variation	`1. e4 e6 2. d4`	141K	35 / 42 / 23	55.9%
22	B00 Nimzowitsch Defense: Declined Variation	`1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3`	4,009	39 / 34 / 27	55.8%
23	A10 English Opening	`1. c4`	199K	34 / 44 / 22	55.6%
24	C42 Petrov's Defense: Three Knights Game	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3`	4,889	30 / 51 / 19	55.6%
25	A04 Zukertort Opening	`1. Nf3`	293K	33 / 45 / 22	55.5%
26	A00 Hungarian Opening	`1. g3`	20K	35 / 39 / 25	55.1%
27	C60 Ruy Lopez	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5`	162K	29 / 53 / 18	55.1%
28	C00 French Defense: La Bourdonnais Variation	`1. e4 e6 2. f4`	319	36 / 39 / 26	55.0%
29	A50 Indian Defense: Normal Variation	`1. d4 Nf6 2. c4`	457K	32 / 46 / 22	55.0%
30	A40 Queen's Pawn Game	`1. d4`	1M	32 / 45 / 23	54.9%

Numbers: the Lichess masters database — over-the-board games 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.