Best Chess Openings!

There is no best opening. Chess is a drawn game with best play. Play what you like and know. 19 of 20 first moves should be at least OK. Only 1.g4? will leave you clearly worse. The mostly played moves like 1.e4, 1.d4, 1.c4 and 1.Nf3 will probably give the best theoretical chance for a small advantage, but they are also the moves your opponent probably knows the best.

The Spanish Game!

AKA The Ruy Lopez - Which was played by Spanish Priest!

I have a rating of 508. I only really know 2 openings. One of which is the Van Geet, the other is the Reti. Am I spinning my wheels uselessly just working these openings?

The Reti Opening is often recommended to 1k rated players (Beginners).

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In Beginner Chess, There are 3 very popular Beginner lines recommended to players.

- Italian Game which starts with 1.e4 (King Pawn Opening)

- London System which starts with 1.d4 (Queen Pawn Opening)

- Kings Indian Attack which starts with 1.Nf3 (Reti Opening)

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So playing 1.Nf3 for a Kings Indian Attack (KIA) set up isn’t bad. You could play that way if you want.

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The Van Keet (1. Nc3) isn’t really recommended to beginners because most Van Keet players don’t Fianchetto. They transpose which often means the player playing the Van Keet would need to have knowledge of transposition lines in either 1.d4 or 1.e4 lines.

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Maybe, if you played the Van Greet with the idea to play into a Rubstein Colle or Nimzo Larsen set up, you could get away with it.

However, I haven’t heard of anyone making a Beginner Book for it.

The other lines I mentioned have players who made Guides & Books for Beginners on how to play those lines which make things very easy.

The only line I have seen made which could include the Van Keet opening was the Jobava London line which was made for beginners.

Or you can get same position with Van Keet move order if Black plays it!

There is beginner Book on that line if I remember correctly.

However, most people just play 1.d4 to reach this line. They don’t need to play 1.Nc3 so it’s not really necessary to do it.

Anyway, I hope that helps answer your questions.

The below is the Italian Game:

Sometimes, The above line gets a lot of Hype because of the Infamous Fried Liver Attack!

The Reputation of the Fried Liver Attack is 1 of extreme danger, but has also lead many to believe White is playing for cheat tricks.

Is White playing for Cheap Tricks?

Hard to say, BUT 1 thing is certain the Death Toll the Fried Liver has is unparalleled to any other line. Some people are so afraid of facing it. They have created Anti-Fried Liver lines to prevent it!

Nevertheless, The Followers of the Italian Game continues to grow!

The Below is the London System:

London System reputation is considered extremely Solid and Tough as Nails to break thru due to its Pyramid Shape Pawn Formation!

Of course, The Solid, Tough nature of the line has also lead Haters to call line Boring & Repetitive!

You can see the Pyramid Pawn structure when I take the pieces off

Solid, Tough, Strategic, No Cheap Attacks will work on this Mammoth of an opening!

It has the GOODS!

Yet, The Hates will hate!

Boring, Repetitive, White is just playing on Autopilot every time trying to Bore Black into submission is what some people believe!

Nevertheless, The Followers of the London continues to Grow!

The final Beginner line is Kings Indian Attack or KIA for Short

The KIA Famous for its Rapid Development + King Side Castling!

White aims for Speed!

King Safety as soon as possible in order to begin attacking Black before they have chance to get their King Safety!

The Fianchetto Light Square Bishop becomes a deadly Double Threat!

It Attacks the Center Furiously with its Long Range Attacking Pressure!

While at the same time, It Guards over the King as an extra Layer of Defensive measures!

A Massive King Side Pawn Storm awaits the enemy when White Attack begins!

Of Course, The Haters will Hate!

They consider the KIA has Passive and no Imagination!

AND IF the Light Square Bishop is traded!

All The Light Squares around King will become weak and potentially lead to White demise!

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And so the line you pick is up to you!

What is your poison of preference?

Do you like the Flash Attack which may be filled with Cheap Tricks?

Do you like the Slow Strategic lines which were your opponent down over time?

OR Do you like the Fast Rapid Attacking lines aimed to over whelm enemy before they know what is going on?

Thank you for all the information here! I really appreciate it! It's super useful seeing some of those here on the chat. Would you say that you can get a way with just using a few openings at a beginner ELO and see success? Or to really climb the ladder, should you really get familiar with openings, middle games, and end games that are advanced? I feel like if you can learn those early, the edge you'll gain will be huge, at least until you hit higher rated ELO opponents.
For me personally, I like fast rapid attacking that really throws off the opponent and keeps them thinking or blindsides them from what they could be expecting. I really like the London System as well. One thing I am running into as a beginner is that I struggle more if I play black compared to white against opponents. Any tips on playing black or what I should work on with that?

You are going to need dozens of lines, BUT you only need 1 starting Opening for White!

For Example:

I gave you a list of 3 popular lines people play.

Each lines Opens differently!

- 1 line plays Pawn to e4

- 1 line plays Pawn d4

- 1 line plays Knight to f3

Let’s say for argument sake you decided to play the Pawn to e4 Opening!

At this point, Black has 20 different moves they can play.

The Italian Game is 1 line which is generally played when your opponent plays 1…e5.

The move e5 is 1 move out of 20 which Black can play.

As a Beginner, you are going to need to have a plan on what you plan to do against each of Black moves!

What will you do against the above?

What will you do against the above?

The Italian Game is 1 line designed to be played against 1 response Black has.

BUT the Italian Game can’t be used against everything! It’s not a Universal Line!

Most Chess lines are not Universal.

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The Trick is to know enough lines to do well, but at the same time, you don’t want to know all the lines!

Trying to know what to do against Black 20 different moves is to Overwhelming!

And some moves Black plays is far more popular vs. other moves Black plays!

In 10 games, You might see the move 1…e5 at least 7 times.

In 10 games, You might see the move 1…Nf6 at least 1 time.

It makes no sense Studying what to do against Nf6 if you haven’t studied what to do against e5!

It’s all about trying to maximize your overall win rate!

It’s hard trying to learn advance lines when you’re already being overwhelmed!

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So to answer your question!

You want to learn Simple/Basic Lines.

You only want to know the first 3-4 moves.

You want to learn a Broad Amount of Lines.

You’re not aiming for Depth.

You’re aiming for Wide Coverage!

It’s about having a Foundation!

You can always build on top of a Foundation, but you can’t build if nothing is there!

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Now, Keep in mind, When you get stronger and higher level.

Things will change!

You will need to know stuff in more depth.

e4 with two knights. What has helped with the rating climb is learning to play an open game. You'll learn how to coordinate the knights and bishops which is a fundamental skill. Control the center so you can create attacking opportunities. When I started to learn how to play e4 properly, the ideas and tactics become a lot clearer due to increased piece activity. Win confidently with e4 then branch out to something else.

The vienna game is the best opening oat for aggressive players and it isn't even close.

https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-principles-of-the-opening

Just read this (it takes 20 minutes of your life) and then try to apply what you have learned in your games (it may take up to 20 years).

No other knowledge about openings is required. You should first, and foremost, improve your tactical vision and skills- without them learning any opening is a waste of time.

Takes half a year max for sure to master the basics

Or half a century, if blitz and bullet is all that you play (and there are thousands of members here which are doing just that).