opening

A good beginner opening is the giuoco piano for white and the french defense for black. These are mostly calm and not many things could go wrong in the first few moves.

GM_Hikaru and IM_ Levy rate the openings relative to appropriateness for beginners...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9CwH47r6og

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHsb7-LbC34

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3FBRlzSMHc

For each of the openings discussed in the (3-part) video be sure to pay attention to whether they are referring to White or Black’s perspective. Also, they frequently refer to some openings as "garbage" or "bad", etc., but these qualifiers are used in the context of how appropriate or advisable they are for a beginner. For example, an opening they call "garbage" for a beginner may in fact be fine (e.g., "legendary") for a titled player.