12 Best Chess Openings That Every Beginner Should Know

Chess has enjoyed a sharp rise in popularity over the last year. This began when Chess.com created their first PogChamps tournament on Twitch in 2020, which proved extremely popular thanks to thanks to streamers like Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, xQc, and Ludwig. The tournament has gone from strength to strength since, with celebrities outside of Twitch like Gregor Clegane and Rainn Wilson competing in the tournament since. Furthermore, Netflix's hit series The Queen's Gambit spurred another wave of interest, which gave sites like Chess.com, Chess24, and Lichess huge increases in their player count. To help players who are new to the game, we've listed some of the best openings to get started with. Notations showing how the pictured games were reached will be on the right-hand side of each picture. For those who are yet to learn chess notation, a handy guide can be found here. Updated on March 16th, 2023, by Jack Pursey: Studying new openings can be a daunting task for newcomers to chess. Entire books have been written on chess openings, and many Grandmasters are still learning something new every day about opening patterns that have been around for centuries. However, learning new openings can also be great fun and is incredibly rewarding, as understanding even the basic principles of a handful of openings can significantly improve a beginner's game. To give newcomers to chess some more help, we've expanded this list of the best chess openings with some more useful information. GAMERANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT 1 Scotch Game The Scotch Game is an alternative to the popular Ruy Lopez system. The opening's main benefit is that it quickly gives White plenty of space, particularly for their two bishops, which are both given open diagonals. The opening isn't without its issues, as it swiftly releases the tension and can make White's e4 pawn vulnerable later in the game. Still, it's a great opening to learn for those who want to gain early space and avoid all of the theory that comes with playing the Ruy Lopez.