The best opening is clearly the scotch game (any position resulting from 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4). Firstly, any style of player would be happy to use it because there are different variations to suit different wants. There's a tactical slugfest with the Goring gambit, a good yet trappy line with the scotch gambit, and a safer, positional, yet open game with plenty of chances in the mainline scotch. Any line is fairly easy to learn as there is relatively little theory associated with each, yet it is respected enough to be played fairly often at the master level. This opening leads to quick development, an open game, and most often a comfortable advantage for white.
Debate: What is your favourite opening, and why?
Sort:
Okay, Ryan, 1st person to get a trophy 
scotch is too drawish
the french defence - gives a strategical game without needing to be a bookworm. Solid enough and yet gives scope for imbalances
Alright, one trophy for each of you. Hey eaglex,maybe you could try more details?
Well im not the best player, so my repetoire is still very limited. It is hard to say there is one single best opening, because ppl vary and games vary. Going into an indian defense against e4 would be stupid even though the kings indian is very sound and the best players to have ever lived almost always exclusively opened with it. I personally like the sicilian against e4, the kings indian (sometimes the benoni) against d4 and the english. e4, d4 and c4 are pretty much the only white openings i have respect for(knight openings excluded because they are non commital.) MAAAAYBE the birds, but ive never lost against it.(ive only played it twice if you must know.) As white i like opening with e4 against good players because it is easier to slip up in tense, tactical situations. And i open with d4 against weaker players, allowing me to slowly but surely press my advantage more and more using strategy(usually) rather than tactical combinations. I personally think e4 is the most fun. Lots of tricks, traps and options.
saidh wrote:
Favourite as white would have to be transposing into the Kings Gambit.
Right now, my favourite as black is the 4 knights.
Pardon my ignorance, but how exactly do you transpose into the king's gambit?
My favorite opening would have to be the Pirc Defense, more specifically, the Austrian Attack (1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 c5). Black chooses to counterattack from the wings against white's big pawn center, and second best moves will be punished to the extreme. I always love it when they capture the c-pawn since I get to play Qa5 and start pounding away at targets.
As a Civil War buff, I'm fond of the McClellan Attack.
Make no moves and call for reinforcements.
since i am a learner my favourite openings keep on changing........
. Earlier i used to play e4 but now play 1.d4 .... 2.c4... and mostly colle against toprated to lengthen game. With black i was a sicilian fan but now I love to face ruylopez . I am even preparing a scid file containing all possible lines of ruy-lopez. All the openings i play i just concentrate on piece development and controlling centre.
mattdearle and dkischess, your comments do not quite match the topic, so there'll be no trophies
. However, thanks for the contributions! You could still try your hand at the prize by editing your comment.......
As for Bur_Oak, you'll need more details. Hey, I haven't even heard of your opening before!
The rest get a trophy each.*Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!*
Anyone wanna be a judge?
I like this opening. Though I've never used this version before. ._. It wins. After qh4, white has limited responses.
The Open Sicilian, e6/d6 systems (Scheveningen, Classical, Najdorf, Taimanov). Very unbalanced from the start, very fluid, lots of transpositions, deadly attacks, counterattacks and tactics everywhere.
If I ever manage to understand these positions, I will know chess.
Aug 6, 2009
0
#16
jamesjddongchess wrote:
The caro kann is the best!! It is not really as boring as people think, (ie positions are not symmetrical unlike the petroff ughhh). It is very solid, black usually ends up with a better pawn structure in the endgame, it is very easy to play, and it is also flexible (in terms of development and castling. Often white players don't like to play against the caro kann because it is a tough nut to crack, so they often overextend and are outplayed in the long run. That's my 2 cents.
Some notable players who play the caro kann: Karpov and Chessnetwork.
preach it,brother!!by far the most superior opening for black...
as for white...I like to play a variety of openings,king's gambit,scotch game,ruy lopez,d4,english etc
Aug 6, 2009
0
#17
The Pirc for me! I love it's fighting style and inability to accept that White is substantially better. I love aggressive, hypermodern chess!
OG
Aug 6, 2009
0
#18
As white, the closed Sicilian, and as black I'm happy to play the Ruy or King's Indian.
The best opening is the King's Indian Defense. Most of my experience in this opening comes from the White side so that is where my efforts will be concentrated in this debate, but both sides have a wealth of strategic ideas
The KID is the quintessential example of Kingside V Queenside assault. The locked central pawns make for a tense pawn race on opposite sides of the board. This results in a game where both sides have to deal with attacks, defences and endgame considerations simultaneously for the entirity of the game, as opposed to the "equalisation" required by lesser openings in which black has little say until the late middlegame, if at all.
The closed structure also allows, indeed forces, both sides to reconsider the dynamics of the pieces on the board and overturn boring strategic laws. I've won a game in which white had a decisive advantage despite having only one piece off it's starting square, which still remained on my back rank. The true ability of the players is only revealed when this level of consideration is reached, and this only happens in the KID and a few other select openings.
Amateurs often fall into the trap of assuming that the Kingside assault ought to be stronger. As a result they play the KID on autopilot, and abandon all hope of winning with 1.d4. For stronger players, who are willing to take the plunge, the lack of fear in the face of the amassed threat to the King is the most adrenal experience to be induced on the board and elevates the game of chess above mindless calculation to among the great sports, on mental, emotional and physical levels of competition.
*Hi!
~What is your favourite opening, and why?~
This forum was created to find out who has better debate skills to convince us that it is his favourite opening which is the best. The idea is to state your favourite opening, regardless of White or for Black, and convince us that it is the best, that is why you chose it.
The winner will be the person who has the most points and can convince us most that his opening is best. It is the reasons which count, not the opening (so I don't care whether it's the Fried Liver Opening or the Sicilian,it doesn't matter).
The winner will get a whole lot of trophy stacked in his/her trophy showcase, to be exact, 10 (?!), whereas the first runner-up will get 5 trophies and the second runner-up, 3 .The rest who debated and gave reasons convincingly and not lazily( without proper reasons) will still get 1 trophy. Those who made it exciting and funny will get an additional trophy! So you've got nothing to lose! Just voice out!
For this debate, I will be the judge. If there's anyone out there who wants to be a judge too(for later debates), tell me, I might just pick you! And you'll get another trophy if you get chosen! (Man, I'm going to be busy giving away trophies.....)
So, on with the debate!