Worst opening move

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chessstrike

I'm sure this has been discussed before.  Any thoughts?

Akuni

Just to Tweak the nose of Cheater_1 I'm going to say that the worst opening move is 1. d4.

Zredfire

1. Nh3, 1. h3, and 1. e3 seem to be about the same as far as white losing.  I would think that 1. f3 would be a horrible opening move. 

bondiggity

I don't think e3 really belongs in that list, can easily just set up a stonewall formation which is a respectable opening.

Elubas

e3 is passive but not terrible. f3 seems pretty bad but still it supports e4. I think h4 is probably worst because it weakens the kingside and does nothing good, but h3 and a3 are like playing black with the pawn there which could be useful so it shouldn't be underestimated since being white over black isn't a big advantage anyway.

Charlie91

    Move   ECO       Frequency    Score  AvElo Perf AvYear %Draws

21: Nh3    A00g      256:  0.0%   42.1%  1995  2015  1995   19%
_______________________________________________________________
TOTAL:           5025077:100.0%   53.9%   967   988   284   31%

The above table is a fragment from a large database of games--1. Nh3, as Zredfire suggested, has the worst outcome for White, scoring 42.1%, and used only 256 times (0.005% of all games).

10YearsGone
Zredfire wrote:

1. Nh3, 1. h3, and 1. e3 seem to be about the same as far as white losing.  I would think that 1. f3 would be a horrible opening move. 


 1. e3 is a great move, because it allows you to develop your King. Laughing

Jess_U

Come on now, 1. Nh3 isn't THAT bad. 1.f3 on the other hand, well I won't argue with that.

Hugh_T_Patterson

Any move played with thought as to development, strategy or material gain.

Elubas

d4 used to be my favorite opening but I've become a much much more agressive player this year and I can keep the initiative with e4. D4 is harder to get attacks with. No matter what first move you choose, it doesn't really matter as long as you can play well since one move won't really screw up the whole game.

staggerlee

h4 if my vote.  Although any one first move isn't going to be as bad as certain two move openings, such as 1.e4 e5 2. ke2 for example.  Although I won playing this against a friend.  it was funny.

Colegreen

f3 e5

g4

Lee333

Here is my vote for the worst opening of all time. Its called the Dimwitt Defence.

Zredfire

Lee, stop it, you made me cry!

EDIT:  A few seconds later...and that is only bad for black!

KillaBeez

The worst opening move is h4.  That is my opinion. 

l_goch

The worst move is to sit there and allow your time to run out and to have your flag drop!

atomichicken

or punch the tournament director in the face.

KillaBeez

But resigning on the first move won't affect your rating.

voidz2

F3 is totally the worst move for white!

stanhope13

the worst opening is to say"i resign". Blackburn once did that.