All chess openings

Chess openings for intermediate players

Openings with real plans behind them, where a handful of moves have to be played accurately to get the position you are aiming for. The next step up, once the basics are automatic and opponents have stopped falling for the obvious.

30 openings

• Sicilian Defence — Accelerated Dragon (B35) — The Dragon without …d6 — saving a tempo to hit d4 with …d5 in one go
• Smith-Morra Gambit (B21) — Give up a pawn to get every piece out and both open files for free
• Ruy López — Berlin (C67) — Solid and endgame-focused — the drawing weapon of champions
• Ruy López — Closed (C84) — Slow manoeuvring, long-term pressure on Black's position
• Two Knights Defence (C56) — Black ignores the threat to f7 and invites the sharpest game on the board
• Vienna Game (C27) — A quiet-looking developing move that hides a genuinely wild gambit
• Vienna Gambit (C29) — A King's Gambit with the knight already developed and the king safer
• Scotch Game — Mieses Variation (C45) — Aggressive queen sortie, pressure on f7 from the outset
• Scotch Game — Schmid Variation (C45) — Flexible development, avoid early theory with Bc4
• King's Gambit Declined (C30) — Refuse the pawn, aim the bishop at f2, and let White's own gambit backfire
• Evans Gambit (C52) — One pawn to deflect a bishop and build the biggest centre in chess
• French Defence — Tarrasch (C09) — Develop the knight to d2 and the Winawer simply never happens
• Caro-Kann — Karpov Variation (B17) — Develop the knight to d7 first so the kingside never gets shattered
• Caro-Kann — Panov Attack (B13) — Turn the solid Caro-Kann into a raging isolated-pawn attack
• Queen's Gambit Accepted (D20) — Accept the pawn and fight for equality with active play
• Nimzo-Indian Defence (E20) — Bishop pair pressure and flexible pawn structures
• Queen's Indian Defence (E15) — Fight for e4 with a fianchettoed bishop and give White absolutely nothing
• Benko Gambit (A59) — One pawn for two open files and pressure that never, ever stops
• Dutch Defence — Classical (A92) — Control e4, build on f5 — flexible and rich in ideas
• Dutch Defence — Stonewall (A90) — Rigid pawn chain, strong d5 outpost, attack on the kingside
• Pirc Defence (B08) — Let White have the centre and undermine it once the king is safe
• Modern Defence (B06) — Delay everything, commit to nothing, and let White overextend
• Alekhine's Defence (B04) — Offer the knight as bait and let White's centre chase it into overextension
• English Opening (A10) — Flexible hypermodern control of the centre
• Catalan Opening (E00) — Long-term bishop pressure down the g2 diagonal
• Fried Liver Attack (C57) — Sacrifice a knight on f7 and march the black king up the board
• Lasker Trap (D08) — An underpromotion to a knight — on move seven
• Noah's Ark Trap (C71) — Three pawns walk forward and the Spanish bishop simply never gets out
• Siberian Trap (B21) — Accept the Smith-Morra, ignore the attacked knight, and mate on h2
• Magnus Smith Trap (B57) — The Dragon fianchetto is one move too early and the queen falls