All chess openings

Positional chess openings

Openings played for small, permanent advantages: space, a better pawn structure, a weak square to occupy. Nothing is decided in the opening — the aim is a middlegame where your plan is clear and the opponent has no counterplay.

24 openings

• Sicilian Defence — Alapin (B22) — Sidestep 10,000 pages of Sicilian theory and just build a big centre
• Ruy López — Closed (C84) — Slow manoeuvring, long-term pressure on Black's position
• 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 — Schmid Variation (C45) — Flexible development, avoid early theory with Bc4
• 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
• French Defence — Tarrasch (C09) — Develop the knight to d2 and the Winawer simply never happens
• 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
• Caro-Kann — Karpov Variation (B17) — Develop the knight to d7 first so the kingside never gets shattered
• 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
• 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
• 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
• English Opening (A10) — Flexible hypermodern control of the centre
• Catalan Opening (E00) — Long-term bishop pressure down the g2 diagonal
• Noah's Ark Trap (C71) — Three pawns walk forward and the Spanish bishop simply never gets out