Overrated /underrated chess openings

What are the most overrated and underrated chess openings. I say most overrated is Caro kann (I just personally don't like it). Most underrated is probably Ponziani or Jobava london system

I would say you just don't like it!

Open Sicilian as white is underrated, as a lot of beginners are taught to believe they will automatically lose if they play it and don't actually understand its purpose or true value.

The Open Sicilian, like Samuel said. GothamChess just absolutely shut it down despite white getting great positions in it.

I would also argue that the Classical Sicilian is criminally underrated.

I'd say the London System is overrated as it seems easy to equalize with Black. These days I'd say the King's Gambit is underrated because many players think it's totally unsound but playing it against opponents rated under 2000 offers a good chance for a win.

The most overrated opening just might be the Italian. It’s a good opening, don’t get me wrong, but it tends to be very drawish compared to its Mexican- I mean Spanish counterpart, and some positions can be very dry. Completely reasonable to play tho

2.Nc6 is overrated in the sicilian, if you were to get one on chess.com you would get one of the 2

its just the d6 sicilians that i rarely see

e6 sicilians are a bit rare

Nc6 is super common for people who just want to play the sicilian without knowing anything

the 3 main open sicilian options are underrated in general because of how much they have fallen out of fashion below 2000 level

but 2.Nc6 has not fallen out of fashion and is still quite common

this is my average open sicilian game

also going Nd5 is sometimes what you want to do to get c4 in and get a good outpost, just be careful of the loose e4

The Four Pawns Attack against the KID is in my opinion, severely underrated. The position can be obtained quite often, and it gives white an incredibly massive center that can prove quite difficult for black to counterattack. It’s incredibly aggressive, and gives white some massive attacking chances, and forces black to tread carefully, though not extremely carefully, lest their position be completely overrun

It can be a but dangerous for white to play though, due to the kingside weakness caused by pushing the f-pawn and lack of early development in favor of taking over the center, but it isn’t exactly refuted either. The massive center itself can also prove to be a liability in some instances, though if black carelessly attacks the center white should be able to do just fine if they simply take the opportunity to increase their already massive spatial advantage

It’s very sharp and aggressive, and both sides have opportunities to attack each other. It’s not exactly the most solid opening, but the nature of it makes it extremely chaotic and quite fun to play

The 4 pawns attack in the KID can transpose into the Meikanas attack in the Modern Benoni. Or maybe I should say they share a common position through a different move order.

yeah but black avoids the taimanov benoni and the meikanas is known to equalize for black

The most underrated opening is the Latvian Gambit...the most overrated is the trashy Sicksilly Defense....any line, every line.

@badger_song

Sicksilly Defence...? Hmm, never heard of that one

I'm sorry, I misspelled it, I meant he Sisssycilian Defense...I mean the Spaghetti Defense... The Sicilian.

@badger_song

Ah yeah ok, I guess that's why it has the highest winrate of the 4 major responses to e4. 😜

ah yes, the Sissysicksillysicilian Defense, perhaps leading to the richest positions in the entirety of chess, played at beginner level and grandmaster level alike, known as the best weapon to fight for a win against 1. e4, trashy and overrated 👍

I think another overrated opening is honestly the Caro-Kann. I feel like black has little maneuvering space in many lines. Just look at this:

Or, even worse, this:

Where black has a terrible bishop, poor development and a questionable pawn structure, all while white has a comfortable position.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great choice at beginner and intermediate level, but I feel like there are more cons than people (especially gotham fans) give it credit for.

dont forget about the tal variation main line

black has NOTHING

he is just hiding behind his unbreakable pawn pyamid and this is the only reason why the caro is so goddam solid, its literally near impossible to break through and regardless of how much white has in space it will be extremely hard/impossible to break

which is why its played for a draw