Openings › Rankings
Opening Rankings by Lichess Rating: White, vs 1.e4, vs 1.d4
Chess openings ranked by results at each Lichess rating level: openings for White, and Black's openings against 1.e4 and against 1.d4. Each list counts openings with 300+ games at that level in the 12-month sample (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026) that meet the list's rule (up to three moves for the side, with each of the opponent's moves on the way played in at least 20% of games at that level), and ranks them by the conservative score, the lower end of the 95% interval.
White Openings
Openings of two or three moves for White, where each of Black's moves on the way is played in at least 20% of games at this level.
- Lichess Under 1200: 49 openings ranked; rank 1 by conservative score: Vienna Game: Vienna Gambit (56.3%)
- Lichess 1200–1499: 53 openings ranked; rank 1 by conservative score: Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation (56.8%)
- Lichess 1500–1799: 53 openings ranked; rank 1 by conservative score: Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation (56.2%)
- Lichess 1800–2099: 84 openings ranked; rank 1 by conservative score: Bishop's Opening: Ponziani Gambit (55.7%)
- Lichess 2100+: 56 openings ranked; rank 1 by conservative score: Queen's Pawn Game: Levitsky Attack (54.3%)
Openings vs 1.e4
Openings of up to three moves for Black against 1.e4, where each of White's moves on the way is played in at least 20% of games at this level.
- Lichess Under 1200: 64 openings ranked; rank 1 by conservative score: Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Botvinnik-Carls Defense (51.5%)
- Lichess 1200–1499: 74 openings ranked; rank 1 by conservative score: Modern Defense: Mongredien Defense, with Nf3 (52.2%)
- Lichess 1500–1799: 77 openings ranked; rank 1 by conservative score: Gunderam Defense (52.2%)
- Lichess 1800–2099: 84 openings ranked; rank 1 by conservative score: Elephant Gambit: Paulsen Countergambit (53.7%)
- Lichess 2100+: 69 openings ranked; rank 1 by conservative score: Italian Game: Hungarian Defense (50.6%)
Openings vs 1.d4
Openings of up to three moves for Black against 1.d4, where each of White's moves on the way is played in at least 20% of games at this level.
- Lichess Under 1200: 27 openings ranked; rank 1 by conservative score: Englund Gambit: Main Line (52.0%)
- Lichess 1200–1499: 38 openings ranked; rank 1 by conservative score: Englund Gambit: Hartlaub-Charlick Gambit (50.1%)
- Lichess 1500–1799: 42 openings ranked; rank 1 by conservative score: Benko Gambit (51.9%)
- Lichess 1800–2099: 39 openings ranked; rank 1 by conservative score: Benko Gambit (51.5%)
- Lichess 2100+: 44 openings ranked; rank 1 by conservative score: Rat Defense: English Rat (49.3%)
Observed results, not causation. How the numbers are made: method.