What is the fifth best opening move?

Hi everyone, aronian22 here. For the first time in a while, I will be posting about a forum. Specifically, this forum, made by @rychessmaster1.       

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-openings/what-is-the-fifth-best-opening-move?page=1

This is actually a very intriguing topic. In case you didn't click on the link, (rickrolls are everywhere nowadays), here is ry's first post: 

There have always been a big four of openings. e4, d4, Nf3, and c4

What is the fifth best? There is g3(which honestly almost always transposes to Nf3 so WHO CARES!?), there is b3, and there is f4. Which one is the best of the rest?

This is an interesting question. Out of the ones he chose, which one is the best. Here was my original answer, updated with diagrams where they are needed.

That's a tough one. This is my personal opinion, so take this with a grain of salt.

Let's start with g3. I, personally, don't like playing it but I do find it quite tough to play against. The reason I don't like it is simple: I'd rather play the English. The point of the fianchetto is to attack the center, specifically d5, without putting pieces there. That's why you start with c4, to stop black from playing d5. But if you start this plan with g3, black immediately plays d5, taking the center. Sure, you can try attacking the pawn with c4, but black can always play c6 or e6. It's very easy to get into a passive position and get steamrolled.

Now, that's why I don't play g3. That doesn't mean it's a bad move. The big reason why people play it is either to transpose to Nf3, like you said, or to try a Hippopotamus or some sort of Double Fianchetto opening. If you like either of these, then I suppose g3 is a good way to get there. It's just not for me.

I have similar problems with b3. It doesn't do its job. Just like g3, it's trying to get one of the central squares, this time, e5. But, because it doesn't directly attack it, black just occupies the square with e5. And suddenly, the entire opening is refuted. Black takes the center, and white's fianchetto fails. 

But with b3, that's not all there is to it. See, one of the reasons people like b3 is that you don't have to attack e5 to get some central control. Instead, you can use the fianchetto in an entirely different way and aim for c4, before or after d5. A common strategy I've seen is to attack e5 in a way that black has to move their pawn to d6, then play c4. I admit this is pretty tough to break through. 

The good news about this for black, though, is that it isn't strategically devastating. In a position like the one I mentioned before, you can still gain space with f5 and dominate white's unsupported pieces. Additionally, the bishop on b2 isn't actually doing all that much. There are places it wants to be more. In fact, from black's point of view, you could even try an early e4 to try and stop the white plans before they even begin. 

Overall, I think b3 is better than g3 as a general opening. But, there's a better option for white, that can actually do its intended job. 

f4, or the bird's opening, is both inferior and superior to the english opening at the same time. By that I mean that both openings have a similar intention but different pros and cons. For example, I would argue that the bird is better at controlling e5 than the english is at controlling d5. The main reason for this, among other things, is that in the english c6 is a viable option for defending d5 while in the bird f6 is usually not. Due to this, the bird often leads to a knight on e5, which is very good for white. In these positions, white sometimes gets a huge advantage just from activity. They will usually fianchetto the bishop with b3, put a knight on f3, and sometimes even play Bb5 to get rid of some defenders of e5. 

However, f4 is not without its weaknesses. There's the obvious problem of the From Gambit. Does this work well? The short answer is yes, it does. Black gets at least equality and at times more. But if you want to play the bird, you have to take this risk. And the good news is that in this dynamic opening, both sides have chances. So if you're good at that kind of thing, don't be too scared of the From gambit. But do be careful. Very careful.

Of course, these aren't all the openings you can play on move 1. But it's most of them, as the others are usually either passive or just unsound. My personal favorite is f4. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk. 

Now, that was my original answer. But, despite it being the longest comment, I've ever written, it still isn't comprehensive. In fact, I can think of three more moves that are serious contenders for the fifth best opening move. 

(Note: I'm not going to include really silly things like the grob and barnes openings or the sodium attack. If you have a problem with this, please go have a problem with something else. Or loudly complain in the forums like you normally do)

So, I want to get the easy one out of the way. d3 is not a good move. It puts white in an inferior position almost instantly. The problem is that black plays d5, and white can't advance the c-pawn or e-pawn without going into an inferior ending. I guess you can try to transpose to g3, but it's risky, and we already determined it was inferior. d3 is by far the worst move in the list.

e3, on the other hand, is surprisingly effective. Unlike the last move, e5 turns into an exchange french, and d5 becomes a bird opening without the From gambit, which I talked about earlier. Nf6 is the only troubling thing, and even with that you could try a KID with e3. If you like any of these openings, then this is a serious option. Personally, I find the exchange french excruciating to play, so this isn't my opening. But it is an option. And it may even be better than the Bird. 

Finally, we have Nc3. I sometimes use this as my 'surprise' opening. It actually transposes to things I like, for example the Vienna game or the positions after d5 e4. I didn't consider it in my post but it is one of the most interesting and controversial moves. I don't know if White can get an advantage, but I feel like I can outplay my opponent. Here's a diagram with some basic theory.

If I had to rank the moves, this would be my ranking, from best to worst:

Nc3

e3

f4

b3

g3

d3

I am now going to check the rankings from the computer, and see how they match up with mine.

e3 +0.30

g3 +0.01

Nc3 0.00

b3 -0.10

f4 -0.22

d3 -0.37

Well, like normally, I was way off. I was right about e3 being good, at least. And I honestly didn't expect Nc3 to be anything more than equal. I just personally like it. I was also surprised by g3 being good but b3 not. It was the opposite of what I thought. Oh well, as we established here, computers are very strange. Other than that no big surprises. See you all next time!