These statistics show the percentages of games won by white and black and the amount of games drawn from over 2 million matches for 60 of the most common Chess openings and 230 further variations of those openings. This page should give you a good idea of what openings and variations are the most successful for white and black. There is also a written summary below the table that summarises all the best and worst variations for the openings in the table. As well as that there are lists of the top 10 best and worst openings for white and black and the most and least drawn openings.
If there are statistics for other openings or variations that I have missed that you are interested in then position searches can be done at www.chesslab.com/PositionSearch.html. To do the search, set the position up on the board and click on the 'Position Stats' button.
Summary
This is a summary of what the best and worst variations and moves to play are from the table above. These were worked out by counting a win as one point and a draw as half a point like you'd get in most tournaments or league matches. See the table above for the moves played in the opening/variation mentioned.
White's 1st Move
The best first moves for white are 1. c4, 1. d4, 1. g3 and 1. Nf3. They all have very similar success rates for white. 1. e4 is not quite so successful because of the popularity of black's equally most successful opening, the Sicilian Defense.
Replies to White's 1st Move
Against 1. a3 (Anderssen's Opening), play 1...g6, don't play 1...e5.
Against 1. b3 (Larsen's Defense), play 1...d5 (Classical Variation).
Against 1. b4 (Polish Defense), 1...Nf6 is slightly more successful than 1...d5 and 1...e5.
Against 1. c3 (Saragossa Opening), play 1...d5.
Against 1. c4 (English Opening), play 1...c5 (Symmetrical Variation).
Against 1. d3 (Mieses Opening), play 1...e5.
Against 1. d4 (Queen's Pawn Opening), 1...Nf6 is black's best reply. 1...g6 and 1...d6 are also quite good for black. 1...d5 is a very common reply but not as successful for black. 1...f5 (Dutch Defense) and 1...b5 (Polish Opening) are both bad for black.
Against 1. e3 (Van't Kruijs Attack), play 1...d5, don't play 1...e5.
Against 1. e4 (King's Pawn Opening), 1...c5 (Sicilian Defense) is black's best reply. Although not too commonly played, 1...g6 (Robatsch Defense), 1...Nf6 (Alekhine's Defense) and 1...Nc6 (Nimzowitsch Defense) are also quite good for black while other replies like 1...c6 (Caro-Kann), 1...d6 (Pirc Defense) and 1...e6 (French Defense) are also a little bit more successful than the more common 1...e5.
Against 1. f4 (Bird's Opening), play 1...d5 (Dutch Variation).
Against 1. g3 (Benko Opening), play either 1...d5 or 1...e5, don't play 1...h5 (Lasker Simul Special).
Against 1. g4 (Grob Opening), play 1...e5.
Against 1. Nc3 (Dunst Opening), play 1...d5, don't play 1...e5 or 1...Nf6.
Against 1. Nf3 (Reti Opening), play 1...g6, don't play 1...Nc6.
Against any other first move, play either 1...d5 or 1...e5.
Queen's Pawn Openings
After 1. d4 d5
If black replies to 1. d4 with 1...d5 then white's most successful openings are 2. c4 (Queen's Gambit) and 2. e4 (Blackmar Diemer Gambit). Other fairly common continuations like 2. Nf3 are not as successful.
Against 2. c4 (Queen's Gambit), the best continuations for black are the Queen's Gambit Accepted and the Semi Slav. If black plays the Semi Slav then its better for white to play 5. Bg5 rather than 5. e3 because that can easily lead into the Meran Variation which is black's most successful continuation from the Queen's Gambit.
After 1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 is more successful than 2. Nf3 for white but black can try for the Nimzo Indian after 2. c4 and that is black's equally most successful opening overall, however white can avoid that by playing a different third move. Another alternative that occasionally gets played is 2. Bg5 (Trompowsky Attack), black's most successful reply to that is 2...d5.
After 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4
There are two common continuations for black in this position which are 2...e6 (normally leading to a Nimzo Indian or Queen's Indian) or 2...g6 (normally leading to a King's Indian orGrunfeld Defense). Out of those two continuations 2...e6 is more successful for black.
Benko Gambit - White should fully accept the gambit and try to keep to the main line. Playing the Nescafe Frappe Attack instead of fully accepting the gambit is bad for white.
Benoni Defense - White should play the Modern Variation against this opening.
Grunfeld Defense - All of the main lines are good for white but the Russian System is a little bit more successful.
King's Indian - This is an extremely popular opening for black but its nowhere near as successful for black as the Nimzo Indian. White's most successful continuation is the Averbakh Variation, also note that if black makes the mistake in that variation of playing 6...e5 then 7. dxe5 dxe5 8. Qxd8 Rxd8 9. Nd5 is very good for white.
Nimzo Indian - This is black's equally most successful opening along with the Sicilian Defense. The best continuations for white are 4. Qb3 (Spielmann's Variation), 4. e3 (Main Line) and the 4. f3 variation. If the 4.e3 c5 Main Line is played, white should play 5. Ne2 (Rubenstein's Variation) as this is white's most successful reply overall to the Nimzo Indian. White should avoid playing 4. a3 (Samisch Variation) and 4. Bg5 (Leningrad Variation).
Queen's Indian - This is less successful than the Nimzo Indian but more successful than the King's Indian. All the main variations have very similar success rates for white but the 4. a3 (Petrosian System) and 4. Nf3 Variation are slightly better. The Queen's Indian can be reached if white plays 3. Nf3 to avoid the Nimzo Indian. Also note that 3...Bb4+ would lead to a Bogo-Indian Defense which is bad for black as white can play 4. Nbd2 to avoid the risk of getting doubled pawns on the c-file and an isolated pawn on the a-file.
King's Pawn Openings
After 1. e4 e5
Against 2. d4 (Centre Game), play 2...exd4. After that, the Danish Gambit is a bit more successful for white. In that continuation, black shouldn't fully accept the gambit by taking the pawn on b2.
Against 2. f4 (King's Gambit), play either 2...d5 (Falkbeer Counter Gambit) or 2...exf4 (Accepted), definitely don't play 2...d6 (Declined). Black's best continuation is the Abbazia Defense, closely followed by the Cunningham Defense. The Allgaier Gambit isn't so good for black.
Against 2. Bc4 (Bishop's Opening), 2...Nf6 (Berlin Defense) is a bit more successful than 2...Nc6 (Classical Variation). After 2...Nf6 is played, 3. d3 is better for white than 3. Nc3.
Against 2. Nc3 (Vienna Game), black's most successful reply is 2...Nf6 (Falkbeer Variation). If white plays 3. f4 (Vienna Gambit) after that then 3...d5 (Modern Variation) is good for black. Black shouldn't play 3...exf4 to accept the gambit as that has a very low success rate for black.
Against 2. Nf3 f5 (Latvian Gambit), play 3. Nxe5.
Against 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 (Ponziani's Opening), 3...d5 is better than 3...Nf6 for black.
Against 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 (Scotch Game), black should play 3...exd4. Overall the best continuation for white is 4. c3 (Goring Gambit) but that is risky because the 4...d5 (Declined) reply is good for black. If black accepts the Goring Gambit then they shouldn't fully accept it by taking the pawn on b2 as well as this is very good for white. The main line of 4. Nxd4 is nearly as successful for white overall and doesn't have the problem of one of the main replies being more successful for black. Black's two main continuations after 4. Nxd4 are 4...Bc5 and 4...Nf6 (Schmidt Variation) and they both have similar success rates for black.
Against 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 (Ruy Lopez), the best replies are 3...a6 (Morphy Defense), 3...f5 (Schliemann Gambit) and 3...Nf6 (Berlin Gambit). The least successful replies are 3...d6 (Steinitz Defense), 3...Nd4 (Bird's Defense) and 3...Bc5 (Classical Defense). If black plays 3...a6 (Morphy Defense), 4. Ba5 is better than 4. Bxc6 (Exchange Variation). If a closed variation is played, the Centre Attack and Worrall Attack are almost as good as the main line. If the main line of a Closed Variation is played up until black's 9th move then black's most successful continuation at that point is 9...Nb8 (Breyer's Variation). Overall, black's best variation is the Marshall Counter-Gambit however trying to play for that is a bit risky as 8. a4 is very successful for white. Also good for black is the Rio de Janiero Variation.
Against 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 (Giuoco Piano), 3...Nf6 (Two Knight's Defense) is slightly more successful than 3...Bc5 (Main Line). In the 3...Bc5 Main Line, white should play 4. c3 to prepare d4 but if black plays 4...Nf6 then 5. d3 is a more successful continuation for white than 5. d4. In the main line, white should avoid playing the Moller Attack as that is good for black. The Evans Gambit,Giuoco Pianissimo and 3...Bc5 4. Nc3 line are not too good for white either.
Against 2. Nf3 Nf6 (Petroff's Defense), 3. d4 (Steinitz Variation) is white's best reply. If white plays 3. Nxe5, then black should play 3...d6 (Paulsen Variation). The 3. Nxe5 Qe7 Variation and 3. Nxe5 Nxe4 (Damiano Variation) are bad for black.
Other 1. e4 Replies
Against 1...b6 (Queenside Fianchetto), play 2. d4.
Against 1...c5 (Sicilian Defense), the two most successful replies are 2. Nf3 and then 2. c3 (Alapin Variation). Other continuations like 2. Nc3 (Closed Variation), 2. f4 (Grand Prix Attack) and 2. b4 (Wing Gambit) aren
Chess Opening Statistics
These statistics show the percentages of games won by white and black and the amount of games drawn from over 2 million matches for 60 of the most common Chess openings and 230 further variations of those openings. This page should give you a good idea of what openings and variations are the most successful for white and black. There is also a written summary below the table that summarises all the best and worst variations for the openings in the table. As well as that there are lists of the top 10 best and worst openings for white and black and the most and least drawn openings.
If there are statistics for other openings or variations that I have missed that you are interested in then position searches can be done at www.chesslab.com/PositionSearch.html. To do the search, set the position up on the board and click on the 'Position Stats' button.
Summary
This is a summary of what the best and worst variations and moves to play are from the table above. These were worked out by counting a win as one point and a draw as half a point like you'd get in most tournaments or league matches. See the table above for the moves played in the opening/variation mentioned.
White's 1st Move
The best first moves for white are 1. c4, 1. d4, 1. g3 and 1. Nf3. They all have very similar success rates for white. 1. e4 is not quite so successful because of the popularity of black's equally most successful opening, the Sicilian Defense.
Replies to White's 1st Move
Against 1. a3 (Anderssen's Opening), play 1...g6, don't play 1...e5.
Against 1. b3 (Larsen's Defense), play 1...d5 (Classical Variation).
Against 1. b4 (Polish Defense), 1...Nf6 is slightly more successful than 1...d5 and 1...e5.
Against 1. c3 (Saragossa Opening), play 1...d5.
Against 1. c4 (English Opening), play 1...c5 (Symmetrical Variation).
Against 1. d3 (Mieses Opening), play 1...e5.
Against 1. d4 (Queen's Pawn Opening), 1...Nf6 is black's best reply. 1...g6 and 1...d6 are also quite good for black. 1...d5 is a very common reply but not as successful for black. 1...f5 (Dutch Defense) and 1...b5 (Polish Opening) are both bad for black.
Against 1. e3 (Van't Kruijs Attack), play 1...d5, don't play 1...e5.
Against 1. e4 (King's Pawn Opening), 1...c5 (Sicilian Defense) is black's best reply. Although not too commonly played, 1...g6 (Robatsch Defense), 1...Nf6 (Alekhine's Defense) and 1...Nc6 (Nimzowitsch Defense) are also quite good for black while other replies like 1...c6 (Caro-Kann), 1...d6 (Pirc Defense) and 1...e6 (French Defense) are also a little bit more successful than the more common 1...e5.
Against 1. f4 (Bird's Opening), play 1...d5 (Dutch Variation).
Against 1. g3 (Benko Opening), play either 1...d5 or 1...e5, don't play 1...h5 (Lasker Simul Special).
Against 1. g4 (Grob Opening), play 1...e5.
Against 1. Nc3 (Dunst Opening), play 1...d5, don't play 1...e5 or 1...Nf6.
Against 1. Nf3 (Reti Opening), play 1...g6, don't play 1...Nc6.
Against any other first move, play either 1...d5 or 1...e5.
Queen's Pawn Openings
After 1. d4 d5
If black replies to 1. d4 with 1...d5 then white's most successful openings are 2. c4 (Queen's Gambit) and 2. e4 (Blackmar Diemer Gambit). Other fairly common continuations like 2. Nf3 are not as successful.
Against 2. c4 (Queen's Gambit), the best continuations for black are the Queen's Gambit Accepted and the Semi Slav. If black plays the Semi Slav then its better for white to play 5. Bg5 rather than 5. e3 because that can easily lead into the Meran Variation which is black's most successful continuation from the Queen's Gambit.
After 1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 is more successful than 2. Nf3 for white but black can try for the Nimzo Indian after 2. c4 and that is black's equally most successful opening overall, however white can avoid that by playing a different third move. Another alternative that occasionally gets played is 2. Bg5 (Trompowsky Attack), black's most successful reply to that is 2...d5.
After 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4
There are two common continuations for black in this position which are 2...e6 (normally leading to a Nimzo Indian or Queen's Indian) or 2...g6 (normally leading to a King's Indian or Grunfeld Defense). Out of those two continuations 2...e6 is more successful for black.
Benko Gambit - White should fully accept the gambit and try to keep to the main line. Playing the Nescafe Frappe Attack instead of fully accepting the gambit is bad for white.
Benoni Defense - White should play the Modern Variation against this opening.
Grunfeld Defense - All of the main lines are good for white but the Russian System is a little bit more successful.
King's Indian - This is an extremely popular opening for black but its nowhere near as successful for black as the Nimzo Indian. White's most successful continuation is the Averbakh Variation, also note that if black makes the mistake in that variation of playing 6...e5 then 7. dxe5 dxe5 8. Qxd8 Rxd8 9. Nd5 is very good for white.
Nimzo Indian - This is black's equally most successful opening along with the Sicilian Defense. The best continuations for white are 4. Qb3 (Spielmann's Variation), 4. e3 (Main Line) and the 4. f3 variation. If the 4.e3 c5 Main Line is played, white should play 5. Ne2 (Rubenstein's Variation) as this is white's most successful reply overall to the Nimzo Indian. White should avoid playing 4. a3 (Samisch Variation) and 4. Bg5 (Leningrad Variation).
Queen's Indian - This is less successful than the Nimzo Indian but more successful than the King's Indian. All the main variations have very similar success rates for white but the 4. a3 (Petrosian System) and 4. Nf3 Variation are slightly better. The Queen's Indian can be reached if white plays 3. Nf3 to avoid the Nimzo Indian. Also note that 3...Bb4+ would lead to a Bogo-Indian Defense which is bad for black as white can play 4. Nbd2 to avoid the risk of getting doubled pawns on the c-file and an isolated pawn on the a-file.
King's Pawn Openings
After 1. e4 e5
Against 2. d4 (Centre Game), play 2...exd4. After that, the Danish Gambit is a bit more successful for white. In that continuation, black shouldn't fully accept the gambit by taking the pawn on b2.
Against 2. f4 (King's Gambit), play either 2...d5 (Falkbeer Counter Gambit) or 2...exf4 (Accepted), definitely don't play 2...d6 (Declined). Black's best continuation is the Abbazia Defense, closely followed by the Cunningham Defense. The Allgaier Gambit isn't so good for black.
Against 2. Bc4 (Bishop's Opening), 2...Nf6 (Berlin Defense) is a bit more successful than 2...Nc6 (Classical Variation). After 2...Nf6 is played, 3. d3 is better for white than 3. Nc3.
Against 2. Nc3 (Vienna Game), black's most successful reply is 2...Nf6 (Falkbeer Variation). If white plays 3. f4 (Vienna Gambit) after that then 3...d5 (Modern Variation) is good for black. Black shouldn't play 3...exf4 to accept the gambit as that has a very low success rate for black.
Against 2. Nf3 f5 (Latvian Gambit), play 3. Nxe5.
Against 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 (Ponziani's Opening), 3...d5 is better than 3...Nf6 for black.
Against 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 (Scotch Game), black should play 3...exd4. Overall the best continuation for white is 4. c3 (Goring Gambit) but that is risky because the 4...d5 (Declined) reply is good for black. If black accepts the Goring Gambit then they shouldn't fully accept it by taking the pawn on b2 as well as this is very good for white. The main line of 4. Nxd4 is nearly as successful for white overall and doesn't have the problem of one of the main replies being more successful for black. Black's two main continuations after 4. Nxd4 are 4...Bc5 and 4...Nf6 (Schmidt Variation) and they both have similar success rates for black.
Against 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 (Ruy Lopez), the best replies are 3...a6 (Morphy Defense), 3...f5 (Schliemann Gambit) and 3...Nf6 (Berlin Gambit). The least successful replies are 3...d6 (Steinitz Defense), 3...Nd4 (Bird's Defense) and 3...Bc5 (Classical Defense). If black plays 3...a6 (Morphy Defense), 4. Ba5 is better than 4. Bxc6 (Exchange Variation). If a closed variation is played, the Centre Attack and Worrall Attack are almost as good as the main line. If the main line of a Closed Variation is played up until black's 9th move then black's most successful continuation at that point is 9...Nb8 (Breyer's Variation). Overall, black's best variation is the Marshall Counter-Gambit however trying to play for that is a bit risky as 8. a4 is very successful for white. Also good for black is the Rio de Janiero Variation.
Against 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 (Giuoco Piano), 3...Nf6 (Two Knight's Defense) is slightly more successful than 3...Bc5 (Main Line). In the 3...Bc5 Main Line, white should play 4. c3 to prepare d4 but if black plays 4...Nf6 then 5. d3 is a more successful continuation for white than 5. d4. In the main line, white should avoid playing the Moller Attack as that is good for black. The Evans Gambit,Giuoco Pianissimo and 3...Bc5 4. Nc3 line are not too good for white either.
Against 2. Nf3 Nf6 (Petroff's Defense), 3. d4 (Steinitz Variation) is white's best reply. If white plays 3. Nxe5, then black should play 3...d6 (Paulsen Variation). The 3. Nxe5 Qe7 Variation and 3. Nxe5 Nxe4 (Damiano Variation) are bad for black.
Other 1. e4 Replies
Against 1...b6 (Queenside Fianchetto), play 2. d4.
Against 1...c5 (Sicilian Defense), the two most successful replies are 2. Nf3 and then 2. c3 (Alapin Variation). Other continuations like 2. Nc3 (Closed Variation), 2. f4 (Grand Prix Attack) and 2. b4 (Wing Gambit) aren