Chess openings
These are guides to 40 chess openings, 22 for White and 18 for Black. Each one gives the moves, the main lines on a board, ideas for both sides, and how the opening scores in eight rating bands. The numbers are counted from 3,156,949 rated games in the Lichess open database.
Openings for White
Italian Game
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4
160,322 games · White 50.0% · draws 4.0% · Black 46.0%
Queen's Gambit
1. d4 d5 2. c4
115,481 games · White 52.3% · draws 4.6% · Black 43.1%
London System
1. d4 d5 2. Bf4
98,431 games · White 51.0% · draws 4.7% · Black 44.3%
English Opening
1. c4
90,173 games · White 50.6% · draws 4.8% · Black 44.6%
Scotch Game
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4
75,392 games · White 52.7% · draws 4.2% · Black 43.1%
Ruy Lopez
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5
67,992 games · White 50.8% · draws 5.4% · Black 43.8%
Bishop's Opening
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4
66,477 games · White 51.2% · draws 4.1% · Black 44.8%
Réti Opening and 1. Nf3
1. Nf3
66,092 games · White 49.4% · draws 4.6% · Black 45.9%
Four Knights Game
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6
48,138 games · White 48.9% · draws 5.0% · Black 46.0%
King's Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. f4
45,910 games · White 51.8% · draws 3.4% · Black 44.8%
Vienna Game
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3
45,883 games · White 51.3% · draws 3.9% · Black 44.8%
Nimzo-Larsen Attack
1. b3
32,601 games · White 50.1% · draws 4.5% · Black 45.3%
Bird's Opening
1. f4
31,532 games · White 49.5% · draws 4.2% · Black 46.3%
Center Game
1. e4 e5 2. d4
24,677 games · White 49.8% · draws 3.7% · Black 46.5%
Jobava London System
1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bf4
19,810 games · White 51.1% · draws 4.5% · Black 44.5%
Colle System
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3
15,258 games · White 49.2% · draws 5.1% · Black 45.7%
Blackmar-Diemer Gambit
1. d4 d5 2. e4
14,525 games · White 50.2% · draws 3.7% · Black 46.1%
Ponziani Opening
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3
14,441 games · White 50.1% · draws 4.0% · Black 45.9%
Danish Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3
10,355 games · White 53.9% · draws 3.5% · Black 42.7%
King's Indian Attack
1. Nf3 d5 2. g3
9,887 games · White 50.7% · draws 5.5% · Black 43.8%
Trompowsky Attack
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5
5,435 games · White 49.2% · draws 4.9% · Black 45.9%
Catalan Opening
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3
3,289 games · White 50.7% · draws 8.4% · Black 40.9%
Openings for Black
Sicilian Defense
1. e4 c5
314,698 games · White 48.0% · draws 4.5% · Black 47.6%
French Defense
1. e4 e6
199,739 games · White 48.1% · draws 4.5% · Black 47.4%
Caro-Kann Defense
1. e4 c6
181,250 games · White 48.1% · draws 4.5% · Black 47.4%
Scandinavian Defense
1. e4 d5
165,760 games · White 49.2% · draws 4.3% · Black 46.5%
Philidor Defense
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6
81,249 games · White 50.5% · draws 4.5% · Black 45.0%
Pirc Defense
1. e4 d6
62,201 games · White 49.0% · draws 4.3% · Black 46.7%
Modern Defense
1. e4 g6
58,874 games · White 48.9% · draws 4.2% · Black 46.8%
Englund Gambit
1. d4 e5
53,421 games · White 49.4% · draws 3.8% · Black 46.8%
Petrov's Defense
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6
47,755 games · White 50.3% · draws 4.0% · Black 45.6%
Nimzowitsch Defense
1. e4 Nc6
38,342 games · White 50.2% · draws 4.1% · Black 45.8%
Owen Defense
1. e4 b6
33,673 games · White 49.7% · draws 4.0% · Black 46.3%
Slav Defense
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6
32,920 games · White 50.9% · draws 5.0% · Black 44.1%
Benoni Defense
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5
29,949 games · White 48.5% · draws 4.3% · Black 47.1%
Alekhine Defense
1. e4 Nf6
24,764 games · White 48.6% · draws 4.5% · Black 46.9%
King's Indian Defense
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3
24,343 games · White 49.4% · draws 4.9% · Black 45.7%
Dutch Defense
1. d4 f5
18,251 games · White 50.2% · draws 4.6% · Black 45.3%
Nimzo-Indian Defense
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4
8,750 games · White 47.7% · draws 5.9% · Black 46.4%
Grünfeld Defense
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5
5,020 games · White 47.7% · draws 6.9% · Black 45.4%
The games were played from 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-02 and come from the Lichess open database (public domain): rated blitz, rapid and classical games. Opening names follow the Lichess opening names.