The first few moves in the chess opening lays the foundation for every chess game. Most of the chess openings have been named and analyzed for hundreds of years. It is important if you want to be successful in chess to be familiar with some of the most popular openings and understand the theory behind the moves. In this section we cover everything you need to know about the most popular chess openings. The boards below will let you know if the opening is offensive or defensive. Once you find the opening you want, click to watch an in depth video and see some of the famous chess games that have been played using that opening.

Many beginners ask what they should study first. While it’s important to understand concepts more than memorizing moves of a particular opening there are a few specific openings that all chess players should start with because they are so widely played. For white, a player should first learn the King’s Gambit, Queen’s Gambit, Ruy Lopez and the English. For black, a player should first learn the Sicilian Defense, French Defense, Scandinavian, and the Slav.

It’s important for any chess player to figure out what type of strategy they like to play. Each opening has a very different play style. Once someone determines what type of game they like to play they can then learn other openings that lead to those type of games.

If you would like to filter the openings by a specific move you can click the move below:

1.  e4
2.  d4
3.  f4
4. c4
5. b3
6. g4
7. Nf3
8. d3

Adelaide Counter Gambit

The Adelaide Counter Gambit is a solid attack against the King’s Gambit for black and begins with the moves:

1.e4 e5
2.f4 Nc6
3.Nf3 f5

When white plays the King’s Gambit they are usually looking to give up material and then have the initiative for the early part of the game. This defense turns the tables on white and gives black multiple attacking lines and control of the center. White has to be careful because if they don’t play properly there are many traps they can fall into. Below are different options they have after 3…f5.

4.exf5

This is the main line and best option for white. Black should continue with 4…e4. It keeps black with two central pawns and attacks the knight from white.

White can play Ne5 and exchange knights or play Ng5 and attack black’s pawn on e4. Black from here needs to play Nf6 because d5 in this spot leaves black vulnerable to Qh5+.

The move d5 now controls the center of the board for black and opens up the light squared bishop to attack the pawn on f5. Most of the options white play from here continue with black playing Bxf5.

They could decide not to move their knight and play Qe2. This is an odd move and I would continue with d5. Control the center of the board and let them block off their pieces from developing properly. The pawn is pinned down so the knight can’t be captured but that’s ok.

4.fxe5

This would be a massive mistake for white. Black can take 4…fxe4 and there is nowhere for white’s knight to move. After 5. Ng1 Nxe5 white is down material and is down a tempo. Black has a massive advantage.

4.Nc3

If they don’t take a pawn they might develop to Nc3. Take with 4…fxe4. This ensures you have both central pawns and attacks their knight.

4.d4

You probably won’t see this often but if you do consider yourself lucky as you have unlocked one of chess’s greatest hidden gems. Playing this wild variations is what so many players love about chess. 4…fxe4 is still the strongest continuation and allows for black to fall into the trap of d5. White might think that both sides will exchange knights but black will have the upper hand once the queen gets involved into the game on h4.

The King’s Gambit is my favorite opening and this is my favorite counter to that opening. Try it out and hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I do.

Albin Counter-Gambit

The Albin Counter-Gambit is a hyper aggressive defense for black against the ever so popular queens gambit from white.

1. d4 d5
2. c4 e5

Black gives up his pawn on e5 so that his d pawn can be nicely placed on d4. This pawn is a huge thorn in the side of white and there are many trap that come from the Albin Counter-Gambit that white has to be on the lookout for. One of the most common traps in the Albin Counter-Gambit is the Lasker Trap which punishes white if he tries to attack the pawn on d4 with e3.

This opening will immediately take a queens gambit player out of his element and gives black many fighting chances. If you are a very aggressive player, especially with black, then you definitely need to learn this opening. For all those queen’s gambit players, this is also good to know as your opponent may throw this at you at any time.

Alekhine Defense

The Alekhine Defense is a hypermodern defense against the ever so popular e4 opening from white.

1. e4 Nf6

Black looks to allow white to chase his knight all over the board with tempo gaining pawn moves that will control the center of the board. In exchange for the center control, black will look to undermine the overextended pawns from white.

The one thing black must always remember is that after his knight has been chased around he no longer can play passively and instead needs to attack the center that white has built up or he will be crushed by the pressure white can build up.

White has three main lines that he can choose from but they all start out with 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6. From here things start to change and each variation takes on its on characteristics. White can choose from the very aggressive line of the four pawn attack where white will look to put his four central pawns in the center. He also might look to play the exchange variation that follows the four pawn attack but instead of the last pawn, instead opts to exchange with the d6 pawn. Black here can choose to play a sharp line capturing with his king pawn or play super aggressive and capture with his c pawn and really open things up.

Belgrade Gambit

The Belgrade Gambit is an aggressive line that derives from the Scotch Four Knights Game:

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Nc3 Nf6
4. d4 exd4
5. Nd5

White’s most common move after 4…exd4 is to recapture with 5. Nxd4 but Nd5 allows white to transition into the Belgrade Gambit. As with many less known gambits, the Belgrade gets much of its advantage from your opponent not being familiar with how to play correctly as black. The good thing about this variation is that if you play 1. e4 2. Nf3 you’ll get many opportunities to try this out as it’s fairly easy to transition into a four knights game.

Benko Gambit

The Benko Gambit is one of the most well respected gambits in chess. For this reason it is one of the main lines stemming from the Benoni Defense.

1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 c5
3. d5 b5

White can either accept the gambit or decline this gambit with Nf3. Although some players may prefer to decline the gambit if they are unfamiliar you will almost always see white accept with cxb5.

Black’s entire goal is to give up a pawn early on to give himself a big advantage on the queen side. Black will continue to try to give white another pawn with a6. Many players don’t mind playing down a pawn as black because of the great attacking lines that stem from the queen side attack in the Benko Gambit.

If you play as white in the Benko Gambit and you don’t want to get into the main line, defending your queen side all game, it is common practice to give back the pawn material advantage and focus on building up your central control.

This opening is not for the faint of heart. It’s a very aggressive opening and should be played accordingly.