Whats a decent opening for white? Mine is kinda bad lol
Does anybody know a solid opening for white

Whats a decent opening for white? Mine is kinda bad lol
Suggestions: Try out some stuff.
Try 1) d4 and 1) e4 and 1) Nf3.
There are 17 others though. None of them lose.
They can be tried too but I myself recommend those first three.
You could try 1) g3 (with Bg2 coming) and 1) b3 (Bb2 soon to be played.
The Larsen opening).
And 1) f4 and 1) c4.
If you play blitz or rapid chess - you'll have many opportunities to try out different things.
If you only play at slow tournament controls - then not so much.
But that's part of the joy of the game.
You choose.
What are the worst possible moves on move 1 for White?
I would say Nh3 and Na3 are pretty bad.

The post quoted above is the opening post of this forum.
Usually - people will recommend their favorite first move for white.
I'm no exception. I recommend 1) Nf3 and its many advantages.
But:
How about a different approach?
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There are 20 possible first moves for White.
Eight single pawn moves. Eight double pawn moves. And four knight moves.
Totalling 20.
(black will have the same 20 options regardless of what white plays of his 20).
So - which of those first 20 options are the worst?
Then the student can pick from what's left.
Including all of what's left.
But everyone could have their own interpretation of what is worst.
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Which one is worst?
A forum could even be made on the subject.
Many would pick 1) f3. But is it that bad? Your f-pawn then controls an important central square at e4. Its that bad.
You've taken the best square from your g-knight among other negatives.
Are 1) a4 and 1) h4 equally bad?
I would say 1) h4 is worse. And 1) h3 is Much Worse than 1) a3.
Because in both cases - moving the h-pawn early weakens white's short-castled position.
Of the six Kside pawn moves - only g3 and f4 make good sense. But the flip side is that there are much better opening moves for move 1.
But the student should think about it on his own - not just take people's word for it.
1) g4 is called the Grob.
If black isn't ready for it - he can seriously misplay his response to it and lose the game in the opening.
@65
"Which one is worst?"
1 g4? is worst: it is the only white first move that loses by force.
It is however playable up to IM level in classical time controls, as the late IM Basman proved.
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1102936

@67
Yes, black can play the Sicilian, but at greater risk of losing.
Black can also play the Petrov.
Black has various ways to prevent the R. Lopez opening (named after a Spanish chessplayer who lived at the same time as Luis Lucena - also of Spain - and Christopher Columbus (that's the english version of the name of famous Italian explorer Cristoforo Colombo of over 500 years ago)
Black absolutely does Not have to allow the Ruy Lopez - nor is he compelled to play c5.
Black does Not have to respond to e4 with e5 at all! Nor with c5!

@67
Yes, black can play the Sicilian, but at greater risk of losing.
It also puts White at great risk of losing, of course.
Otherwise 1. ... c5 wouldn't have a better winning percentage than 1. ... e5.

'does anybody know a solid opening for white?'
The short factual answer is Yes.
Millions of people know of not just one solid opening for white but of multiple solid openings for white.
But would the person asking want examples of such 'solid openings'?
Lets try Yes to that second question - because otherwise the conversation ends right there with Yes to the first question.
Plus the opening poster already qualified with:
"I am a OTB tournament player rated 927 USCF and I want to know a solid opening to switch to."
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White has 20 possible first moves.
Seven first moves for white are Solid - six are intermediate - and seven look 'bad'.
1) b3 and 1) c4, d4, e4, f4, Nf3 and 1) g3 are all Solid. That's Seven.
1 a3 and b4, Nc3, c3, d3 and 1) e3 are Intermediate. Tha's Six.
1) a4 is not Solid. Nor is Na3. Nor f3 , g4, h3, h4, nor Nh3. That's Seven looking 'bad'.
7-6-7. (I was careful to say 'look' bad. Lots of 'lawyers' around for those Seven.)
And it can be kept in mind that those seven 'bad first moves' still win for strong enough players. Including 1) g4. The Grob.

Out of the seven best first moves of the 20 for white ...
1) d4 and 1) e4 are played the most. But 1) Nf3 is very very Solid.
Its my 'opinion' - with emphasis on that word 'opinion' that those three options are the Best of the Seven.
But c4 and f4 are good too. And they're also - like the first three - played a lot.
That leaves b3 and g3. Both played. Both 'solid'.
But just not as good as those first five.
That's why they're played less.

I wouldn't include 1. f4 in the same list as 1. Nf3, 1. e4, 1. d4, 1. c4 etc.
The chess-board is not symmetrical. There are two Rooks and two Knights but only ONE King.
Starting the game by exposing him with 1. f4 is NOT as sound as those other alternatives such as 1. Nf3.

I wouldn't include 1. f4 in the same list as 1. Nf3, 1. e4, 1. d4, 1. c4 etc.
The chess-board is not symmetrical. There are two Rooks and two Knights but only ONE King.
Starting the game by exposing him with 1. f4 is NOT as sound as those other alternatives such as 1. Nf3.
I agree.
But I put 1) f4 in the first group for various reasons.
When players consider white's 20 alternatives ... well everyone will supervise their own choices obviously.
When coaches are instructing chess students - they don't waste time with the Bottom Seven of the 20.
Not much time will go into the six intermediates either.
Of the top seven - g3 and b3 might be mentioned - but won't get much attention.
1) f4 might or might not get some attention.
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That leaves the top four.
For beginners/novices my opinion - 1) c4 deserves the least attention of those four.
Also - 1) Nf3 is underrated. Doesn't get nearly enough attention.
That leaves the top two. So much time invested.
But with black - you might have Any of the 20 Played Against You.
Including 1) c4. Including 1) Nf3. Including 1) g4 and also b4. !!!
Good coaches know that endings and tactics should be on the priority list.
So that their students have some idea of what they're doing in the openings and middlegames.

Yes. Its solid. Very.
But its being argued here that its not a solid choice for beginners/novices.
Plus beginners/novices don't have to 'commit' to any first move choice.
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White has 20 first-move alternatives.
Most of those choices look inferior.
But before 'dismissing' any of the 20 ...
the coach can remind his student ...
'you'll be playing black half the time. Any of those twenty moves can be played against you. You're not going to see 1) a4 played against you much. Or maybe never.
But if you play a lot - you're going to see 1) b4 played against you.
And other 'lesser' moves.
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A good coach probably won't invest a lot of time teaching his student how to play 1) b4 with white. Probably none at all. Unless the student is very eager about variants.
But what about with black? Playing against it. Dealing with variants.
The investment will vary.
Could be as simple as 'don't worry about white playing unexpected moves against you' or 'don't memorize how to deal with white playing moves like 1) b4 or even better moves like 1) b3 or 1) g3 against you.'
But the coach could instruct like this:
'by playing moves like that - white has made your opening task with black easier.'
and maybe give some details.

One thing which needs to be mentioned is White has resources against Black playing Nh5 in London.
- White Queen on d1 can defend the h5 square in early stages of the London
- White can play h3 to hide Bishop on h2 in later stages.
- White can also chose to allow Black to take Bishop so that White can Recapture with H Pawn opening up Rook file (Usually, White will do Queen Side Castle in this line)
Taking the Bishop can be good for Black, but they also have to be careful because sometimes it is very bad for them. It really depends on how the game develops on whether or not it is good or bad. It definitely isn’t very clear cut.
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In regard to the Colle, Their use to be 2 different Colle’s.
- Classical Colle
This line had pawns on c3 - d4 - e3 similar to London with Bishop left behind.
- Rubinstein Colle
This line had pawns on b3 - c2 - d4 - e3 with the Bishop in a Fianchetto set up.
I don’t know if databases still refer to the line as above. Chess Opening names have changed a lot over the years and I haven’t kept up with all of them. It use to be something like that though.

@ Compadre.
"White can play h3 to hide Bishop on h2 in later stages."
That seems to be a critical point in the London.
I like the word 'park' in reference to Bh2 in the London.
'Hide'? Okay.
But my point is - when does white 'get time' for h3 in the London?
And does that h3 have downsides other than the tempo?
Something I've seen come up ...
h3 often creates an important back-rank flight square for the King ... like h6.
I've seen those moves played a zillion times for that specific purpose.
But with the bishop there - no flight square!
I'm not saying this 'indicts' the London and h3.
Just that these things come up.
That whole business of h3 and h6 not only creating flight squares - the so-called Luft but also 'bumping' the opponents pieces on g4 or g5 or deterring them from going there - also comes up constantly.
But also comes up - pieces being sacced at h3 or h6 because the pawn has been played up. Especially bishops.
And gpawns being pushed to engage the h3 or h6 pawns - also comes up.
Middlegame ideas and tactics.
But which are impacted by opening moves.
There's even opening lines where the h3 pawn doesn't dare take a knight at g4 ...
comes up when white castles very early but black hasn't castled yet.
Comes up in the London? I'm not sure as I didn't play the London much.
But if I had my chess to do over I would have played it a lot more.

@ Compadre.
"White can play h3 to hide Bishop on h2 in later stages."
That seems to be a critical point in the London.
I like the word 'park' in reference to Bh2 in the London.
'Hide'? Okay.
But my point is - when does white 'get time' for h3 in the London?
And does that h3 have downsides other than the tempo?
Something I've seen come up ...
h3 often creates an important back-rank flight square for the King ... like h6.
I've seen those moves played a zillion times for that specific purpose.
But with the bishop there - no flight square!
I'm not saying this 'indicts' the London and h3.
Just that these things come up.
That whole business of h3 and h6 not only creating flight squares - the so-called Luft but also 'bumping' the opponents pieces on g4 or g5 or deterring them from going there - also comes up constantly.
But also comes up - pieces being sacced at h3 or h6 because the pawn has been played up. Especially bishops.
And gpawns being pushed to engage the h3 or h6 pawns - also comes up.
Middlegame ideas and tactics.
But which are impacted by opening moves.
There's even opening lines where the h3 pawn doesn't dare take a knight at g4 ...
comes up when white castles very early but black hasn't castled yet.
Comes up in the London? I'm not sure as I didn't play the London much.
But if I had my chess to do over I would have played it a lot more.
I can show you an example of the h3 move.
You can sort of see how the Knight h5 move doesn’t really work out.
Every time Black tries to play Nh5, white can flick in a Bishop to e5 move.
Black really doesn’t want to play f6 vs. Be5 because it will be very weakening.
All the Light Squares would be weak for Black.
Knight h5 isn’t great due to the e5 square being undefended.
When Black plays 4…d6 (Covering E5 Square), White is right on time with h3!
If White doesn’t play h3, Black can at that point try Nh5.
Their is definitely a tug of war between both sides.

Compadre I would say in that London opening you showed just now -
white Definitely has plenty of time for h3!
Especially since black 'invested' in g6.
Does white 'always' get time for h3 in the London?
I don't claim to know.
But I'd think he always has that or other resources against Nh5.
Otherwise the London would be Out of Business.
Maybe there's a London line where white lets black play NxB and white is happy to take back with his h-pawn. Like what can happen from the main line of the Caro.
If white's Always going to have time and good opportunity for h3 - then that's something that should be conveyed to beginners/novices.
It would be Money in the Bank.
Like informing them early on that Closed Sicilian is much easier to play than Open Sicilian. Especially if they've decided to commit to e4.
H3 in the London.
Black makes classic mistakes against the London but what are white's classic mistakes in that opening? I don't know.
Another good player - in one of these forums stated he didn't like Nf3 early in the London because of nastiness by black with Qb6 hitting the b2 pawn which white has 'undefended' by doing his bishop sortie.
@blueemu I looked up h3 in the london just now
(with the idea that your bishop doesn't get exchanged - it pulls back to h2 out of the range of black's knight and pawns like a bishop 'likes' to operate.)
but instead of finding out about h3 I instead saw a lot of vids about how to Crush with the London. But too few on what white's 'big mistakes' are in the London.