Best Openings for Beginners

Hello all, I've been drilling tactics a lot recently (thanks LiChess) and it's helped me climb from 800 to about 950. I think that the main roadblock that I've been running into recently is that, yes, I can spot that tactic usually (rated about 1600 in tactics on LiChess), but I don't understand how to get into the dominant position in the first place. I can find the knight moves to expose the bishop for a check/pin, but how do I get more developed than my opponent and have board control to be able to make those moves possible? Just to clarify, I'm not saying I'm a tactics genius because I'm not, I'm <1000 elo lol. I just don't understand how to get into positions that makes those 1-3 move tactics that I drill regularly possible. Nearly all of them are mid-late game focused, and if I'm underdeveloped or don't have solid control of the center, I just don't see the opportunities to make those moves.

To fix that, I've read that having two openings memorized and using them over and over again can help me to learn their variations and get set up more solidly for a dominant midgame. What openings would you recommend for a beginner, and how many moves deep/number of variations would you memorize?

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"if I'm underdeveloped or don't have solid control of the center, I just don't see the opportunities to make those moves."
++ So develop your pieces into play fast and always play for the center.

"having two openings memorized" ++ You do not have to memorise anything

"using them over and over again" ++ Yes, play the same so as to accumulate experience

"What openings would you recommend for a beginner"
++ as black defend 1 e4 e5 and 1 d4 d5, as white open 1 e4

"how many moves deep/number of variations would you memorize?"
++ None at all. Just play and analyse your lost games.

Italian game is really good as white and maybe the Caro Kann as black. Both very easy to play. You might want to learn some lines of the Caro. 

First, understand that there is no "best" opening.  But there are many good openings, with lots of inconclusive debate over which are better than others.  However, for less experienced players, say beginner-novice, some openings may be more or less appropriate, easier or more difficult to learn and play, than others.  The following presents some interesting possibilities...

Chess Openings Tier Lists – GMHikaru (complete, beginner thru GM)…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9CwH47r6og&list=PL4KCWZ5Ti2H43-gcoByRnZs5fVR_Lg133&index=4

Chess openings are classified in terms of their appropriateness vis-a-vis player skill level -  i.e., beginner vs intermediate vs GM, etc.  For a given player level, the openings are rated and categorized into six "tiers", from "legendary" to "garbage" (the latter being an unfortunate choice of terms, IMO).  These qualifiers are used in the context of not only the general effectiveness of the particular opening, but also how much so-called "theory" (i.e., documented variations) it encompasses, or how much emphasis is placed on positional versus tactical skill in order to play it well.  So an opening they refer to as "garbage" for a beginner may in fact be appropriate and playable for higher rated players who are assumed to possess a more highly developed requisite knowledge base and skills set.  For each of the openings discussed note also whether the evaluation is from White's or Black’s perspective...

For beginner-intermediate players check out ‘GothamChess’ (IM Levy Rozman) on YouTube for recommendations and quick tutorials on various openings....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFod-ozimmM&t=103s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qdyik5UwBtM
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gothamchess+openings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmbU97iftC8&list=PLBRObSmbZluTpMdP-rUL3bQ5GA8v4dMbT

‘Hanging Pawns’ openings videos on YouTube…
https://www.youtube.com/c/HangingPawns

Chess Openings - Ultimate Guide to the Openings of Chess
https://chesspathways.com/chess-openings/

Openings Guides – SimplifyChess.com...
https://simplifychess.com/homepage/openings.html

Chess Openings Resources for Beginners and Beyond...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/openings-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond

more resources related to openings, and book recommendations, in my blog...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell

yes

Did you just signed up today?

Any games for us to look at?

I am a beginner and I use this opening as for it is impactful for me. I mostly use e4 or nf3 for opening. Even though the white is the attacker, I still think I have to secure my king. 

I hope I can learn here in chess.com as I play further. 

I got this,..

:( :C

I was a "beginner" not long ago and consider myself still to be a beginner, although a little higher ranking in the beginner group. I stumbled upon the bishops opening early and found that it seemed to enable me to develop my pieces early, while staying out of trouble and affording some attack opportunities. Now that I've been using it a while, I like it more than ever because I'm comfortable and familiar with it. Another thing I like about it is that you can use it as black against many white openings. 
On its own, it will not win you any games, but it will not lose you any games either, and it will keep you in the thick of it for a couple moves until you have to start making decisions. I don't think many of the GM's use it, but it will probably work fine against your opponents. 

Super ouverture

Opening Principles:

1. Control the center.
2. Develop your pieces
3. Get your king to safety

There are some corollaries that go with each of those, and the same caveat that goes with all of them "unless there is a tactic".

For example, if you have developed your pieces and are getting ready to castle, but your opponent walks into a combination that allows mate-in-X or allows you to win material, you shift gears.

Tactics do not come from you getting into a "dominate position".  They come from a mistake (sometimes 2 or 3 mistakes) from your opponent.  Following opening principles to get your pieces developed, king safe, establish control over the center, and then start looking for how to improve your pieces to apply pressure to the opponent's position.

Tactics are at play from the very beginning of the game, but most tactical mistakes will happen in the middlegame and endgame.

I'll give you an example of what I mean:

As you can see from the example above (which is from the Ruy Lopez opening), every move has a tactical justification to it.  You do not need to memorize openings.  You simply need to understand the ideas (i.e. in the Ruy Lopez, White wants to trade on c6 and take on e5 to win a pawn when it is safe to do so - if Black defends well, he wants his pieces active, control over the center, and a safe king so he can make plans in the middlegame).

So to answer your last questions:

What openings would I recommend for a beginner?  That depends.  Do you want some quick wins or do you want to learn how to play chess?  If you want the former, you can play something like the London System (where you will likely get a playable middlegame most of the time - but with very limited structural exposure) or a gambit to try to play with the initiative.  The latter is what many coaches recommend to young kids as they are learning as it gets them used to finding attacking ideas.  Alternatively, you could find something solid and play that.  Personally, I recommend finding players whose games you enjoy and using their openings as you will be more likely to enjoy the studying process (and thus, will do it).

How far should you memorize?  The first 3 moves is all you need for virtually anything you want to play right now.  As you progress, you will naturally acquire more moves, but not because you sat down and memorized them, but because you start understanding the positions and how they should be played (or how you want to play them, if there are multiple ways to play them).

Now, you created this account less than 10 hours ago, have played 0 games, and did not link your LiChess account, so it is impossible to give any specific information regarding your questions.  In general, it is highly likely that opening knowledge is not what is determining your games, and the more likely culprit is simply you are either playing the opening on autopilot (i.e. not paying attention to what your opponent does, why he does it, and how you might be able to exploit it) combined with not following general opening principles.

Anyone who spams oneliners like "queens gambit" is just terrible. Oh , I see, it's ZachGB. Never mind, the guy is a known spammer troll.

Good advice was given at least 3 or 4 times in this thread, however, so it's okay.