What do you think is the best chess opening? And why?

♟️ What’s Your Favorite Chess Opening?

The first few moves can set the tone for the entire game. So, what’s your go-to opening and why?

Do you love the bold sacrifices of the King’s Gambit? (Bro, I like this one)
Prefer the sharp play of the Sicilian Defense??
Maybe the slow, steady control of the Queen’s Gambit fits your style? (Like the queen's gambit?)
Or are you all about solid positions with the Caro-Kann? (Which is GothamChess's favorite opening)
Everyone has that one opening they swear by, whether it’s for strategy, simplicity, or just to throw opponents off. I'm pretty ready to hear yours

Share your favorite opening and how it’s helped you crush the competition (or saved you in tricky spots).

Drop your thoughts in the comments—let’s talk chess!

The best chess opening is the one you know well.

Precisely! No two people are the same.

I am strong in defending the Petroff, French, and Dutch.

I despise the Grunfeld and the Alekhine

To someone else, the Petroff, French, and Dutch may make absolutely no sense at all to them, whereas openings with the opposing mobile pawn center, like the Grunfeld and Alekhine, may be right up their alley.

All that can be said is that there are 13 defenses, 5 against 1.e4 and 8 against 1.d4, that have been established as being stronger than the rest, and then there is a second tier of openings that haven't been busted, but there is something strategically incorrect about them, and then there are outright bad openings.

The 13 "Established" Defenses:

Double King Pawn Openings w/ 2...Nc6 (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6)

Petroff

SIcilian

French

Caro-Kann

Queen's Gambit Declined

Queen's Gambit Accepted

Slav

Semi-Slav

Nimzo-/Queen's/Bogo-Indian

King's Indian/Modern Benoni

Grunfeld

e6-Dutches

Then there are second-hand openings that aren't totally busted, but strategically incorrect:

Pirc

Pribyl

Philidor

Latvian Gambit

Modern

Alekhine

Scandinavian

Nimzowitsch Defense

Old Indian

Leningrad Dutch

Mexican Defense (a.k.a. Two Knights Tango)

Benko Gambit

Blumenfeld Gambit

Chigorin Defense

Czech Benoni

Marshall Defense (1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6)

Owen's Defense

St. George Defense

Pretty much anything else is just outright bad. But no one is "best". The "best" is whatever combination of the top tier of defenses you understand best. For one person that might be the Petroff, French, and Dutch (e.g. myself) while for someone else, it might be the Sicilian and Grunfeld (e.g. Kasparov).