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A Chess Opening or simply an opening refers to the initial moves of a chess game. The term can refer to the initial moves by either side, White or Black, but an opening by Black may also be known as a defense. There are dozens of different openings, and hundreds of variants. The Oxford Companion to Chess lists 1,327 named openings and variants.[1] These vary widely in character from quiet positional play to wild tactical play. In addition to referring to specific move sequences, the opening is the first phase of a chess game, the other phases being the middlegame and the endgame.

Opening moves that are considered standard (often catalogued in a reference work such as the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings) are referred to as “book moves”, or simply “book”. Reference works often present move sequences in simple algebraic notation, opening trees, or theory tables. When a game begins to deviate from known opening theory, the players are said to be “out of book”. In some opening lines, the moves considered best for both sides have been worked out for twenty to twenty-five moves or more. Some analysis goes to thirty or thirty-five moves, as in the classical King's Indian Defense and in the Najdorf variation of the Sicilian Defense.[2] Professional chess players spend years studying openings, and continue doing so throughout their careers, as opening theory continues to evolve. Players at the club level also study openings but the importance of the opening phase is smaller there since games are rarely decided in the opening. The study of openings can become unbalanced if it is to the exclusion of tactical training and middlegame and endgame strategy.

What are the Best Chess Opening Moves?

The four best chess opening moves for White are 1.e4, 1.d4, 1.c4 and 1.Nf3 The best chess openings after 1.e4 are the Ruy Lopez, the Italian , the Sicilian Defense, the French Defense, and the Caro Kann. The best chess openings after 1.d4 are the Queen’s Gambit, the King’s Indian Defense, the Slav Defense, the Grunfeld Defense, and the Nimzo Indian Defense. The move 1.c4 leads to the English Opening – one of the best chess openings for White. The move 1.Nf3 leads to the Reti Openings – a strong chess opening for White. Examining the starting position of the game of chess, White has twenty legal chess moves at his disposal. However, some chess opening moves like 1.e4 or 1.d4 are far more popular than opening moves like 1.a3 or 1.g4.

###Bad Chess Opening Moves

One of the worst first moves for White to play is 1.g4. With this move, White does not fight for the center – an important concept in chess – and gives Black a clear target to attack. If Black responds to 1.g4 with 1…d5! he occupies the center and directly attacks White’s loose pawn on g4 with his bishop on c8.

If White, for example, defends his pawn with a move like 2.f3, this can lead to a quick mate. The move 2…e6 looks harmless but threatens a deadly checkmate on h4 with the queen.