Now this is going into subjective experience "well I beat a lot of players with it" the same can be said about Smith-Morra Gambit which you put in tricks only but is actually better than the Stonewall tbh.
chess opening tierlist
According to your objective list, the Stonewall is better than the Italian, English, French, Caro-Kann and King's Indian.
According to your objective list, the Stonewall is better than the Italian, English, French, Caro-Kann and King's Indian.
because its more fun?
also i made the list in 5 minutes, dont expect it to be accurate
just because its more fun does not mean its better
the stonewall gives black equality/good edge and is easy for black to win
I'm not a fan of the Stonewall when players rely on it as their entire repertoire. But as an occasional opening, I'd say it's completely fine.
Here's Magnus Carlsen on the Stonewall.
Audience member: "How do you get an 11 year old who's a 1500 rated player to give up using the Stonewall as his favorite opening?"
Carlsen: "I don't know what you're talking about. The Stonewall is an excellent opening. I play it myself ..."
That audience member's son, afterward: "Hah! In your FACE, Dad!" ![]()
Here's mine. I think it's pretty accurate, but I'm sure there are some people who will disagree with a lot of it.

I didn't rank the Sicilian Defense itself; just the different types of Sicilians.
the grünfeld as WAYYYY better than the italian
you are over-ranking the italian the petrov way too much
the grünfeld as WAYYYY better than the italian
you are over-ranking the italian the petrov way too much
Yep. I'm sure you know what you're talking about.
Like, why? Do you have any reason? I would love to know.
I’m starting to question the quality of the original tierlist. The creator included Fools’ Mate but forgot the Nimzo-Indian, Bogo-Indian, Queen’s Indian, Evans Gambit, Vienna Opening etc. The Benoni was included, where’s the Benko? Stonewall and London were included, what about the Colle and Torre Attack? They included a gambit as unsound as the Jerome and left out the Halloween Gambit? And if we’re using opening variations like Tarrasch French, where’s the Paulsen French?
I’m starting to question the quality of the original tierlist. The creator included Fools’ Mate but forgot the Nimzo-Indian, Bogo-Indian, Queen’s Indian, Evans Gambit, Vienna Opening etc. The Benoni was included, where’s the Benko? Stonewall and London were included, what about the Colle and Torre Attack? They included a gambit as unsound as the Jerome and left out the Halloween Gambit? And if we’re using opening variations like Tarrasch French, where’s the Paulsen French?
oh yea didnt notice lmao
samuel, what do you think about this tierlist? realistic? true?
It makes sense. I would probably move the Scandi down a notch though.
I’m starting to question the quality of the original tierlist. The creator included Fools’ Mate but forgot the Nimzo-Indian, Bogo-Indian, Queen’s Indian, Evans Gambit, Vienna Opening etc. The Benoni was included, where’s the Benko? Stonewall and London were included, what about the Colle and Torre Attack? They included a gambit as unsound as the Jerome and left out the Halloween Gambit? And if we’re using opening variations like Tarrasch French, where’s the Paulsen French?
It's not the OP's fault. Those are the only options provided by the tierlist site.
pretty sure that this tierlist site allows people to create their own tierlists and publish them
it was created by hikaru and levy and then they made like 3 or something videos making different lists for different purposes
the grünfeld as WAYYYY better than the italian
you are over-ranking the italian the petrov way too much
Yep. I'm sure you know what you're talking about.
Like, why? Do you have any reason? I would love to know.
the italian gives white a slow manuvering game where he just holds on to a tiny advantage the whole game
the ¨fried liver¨ gives black equality
the ¨classical variation¨ with c3-d4 gives black a better position with an easy d5
then look at the grünfeld. its an aggressive, hypermodern opening where white gets a large center and black picks at it with c5-Bg4-Qa5-Nc6,Na5 etc..
just look at common positions from each opening



totally objective list that took about 5 minutes
the stone wall gives black too easy of a game
no theory required, perfect blitz opening
A lot of garbage is playable in blitz, as there isn't enough time to calculate precisely or blunder check in every case.
Stonewall isn't very good.
at high level*
in longer time controls i could still pretty soundly beat a player my rating with the stonewall, the advantage they get from the opening is probably not enough for them to convert to a win