All chess openings

Chess openings for beginners

Openings you can play on understanding rather than memory. The moves follow from a few clear ideas — develop, castle, take the centre — so a forgotten move order costs you very little, and the positions teach the principles you need everywhere else.

25 openings

• Sicilian Defence — Alapin (B22) — Sidestep 10,000 pages of Sicilian theory and just build a big centre
• Sicilian Defence — Closed (B25) — Refuse to open the centre and just attack on the kingside instead
• Ruy López — Exchange Variation (C69) — Wreck Black's pawns, trade everything, win the endgame
• Italian Game (C50) — Classical development, long-term piece pressure
• Petrov Defence (C42) — Counter in the centre instead of defending — the great grandmaster equaliser
• Philidor Defence (C41) — Cramped but genuinely tough — a fortress that takes real skill to crack
• Scotch Game — Classical (C45) — Open play and piece activity from move three
• Scotch Gambit (C44) — Sacrifice a pawn for rapid development and open lines
• Danish Gambit (C21) — Two pawns for two monster bishops raking the whole board
• French Defence (C00) — Closed centre, queenside counterplay, fight for e5
• French Defence — Advance (C02) — Lock the centre, take the space, and leave Black's bishop entombed
• Caro-Kann Defence (B10) — Solid and structural — a good pawn structure from move one
• Caro-Kann — Advance (B12) — The French Advance, except Black's bishop got out first
• Queen's Gambit Declined (D30) — Classical and solid — control the centre with pieces
• Slav Defence (D19) — Defend d5 with the c-pawn and the problem bishop walks free
• Budapest Gambit (A52) — Throw a pawn at move two and get every piece out with tempo
• Scandinavian Defence (B01) — Trade the centre off on move one and always get the same position
• London System (D02) — Solid and reliable — same setup against anything
• King's Indian Attack (A07) — Reverse King's Indian — kingside attack with reversed colours
• Légal Trap (C41) — Hang the queen on purpose and mate with three minor pieces
• Blackburne Shilling Gambit (C50) — Offer a free pawn and mate on move seven when White takes it
• Elephant Trap (D51) — The d7-knight looks pinned. It isn't, and White loses a piece finding out.
• Englund Gambit Trap (A40) — Throw a pawn away on move one and mate on c1 eight moves later
• Fishing Pole Trap (C65) — Dangle a knight on g4 and open the h-file when White bites
• Scholar's Mate (C20) — The four-move mate — worth knowing so it never happens to you