List of chess openings

Chess openings are listed and classified according to their first few moves. There are interesting statistics on the frequency of chess openings from chess databases.

 Statistics 
 1800–1900 1901–1935 Modern e4–e5 (64%) e4–e5 (31%) e4–e5 (15%) e4 other (23%) e4 other (20%) e4 other (35%) d4–d5  (10%) d4–d5 (28%) d4–d5 (15%) d4 other   d4 other (16%) d4 other (23%)  other (5%) other (12%)

The table shows how common each opening was for each era. It shows movement away from symmetrical defences and an increase in asymmetrical defences. In reply to 1.e4, the Sicilian and French Defence, and to 1.d4 the Indian defences become more common. It also shows an increased use of the English Opening for White.Watson, John 1998. Secrets of modern chess strategy. Gambit, London. Part 2: New ideas and the modern revolution. p93

 King's Pawn openings 

 1...e5 replies 
King's Gambit  1.e4 e5 2.f4
Ruy Lopez  1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5
Vienna Game 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3
Giuoco Piano 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5
Evans Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4
Petrov Defence 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6
Philidor Defence 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6

 Asymmetric replies 
Alekhine's Defence  1.e4 Nf6
Caro-Kann Defence  1.e4 c6
French Defence 1.e4 e6
Sicilian Defence  1.e4 c5
Open variations 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 followed by 3.d4
Closed variations 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 not followed by d4
Scandinavian Defence 1.e4 d5 
Pirc Defence 1.e4 d6 (may also be played against 1.d4)
Modern Defence 1.e4 g6 (may also be played against 1.d4)

 Queen's Pawn openings 
 1...d5 replies 
Queen's Gambit Accepted  1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4
Queen's Gambit Declined  1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6
Slav Defence  1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6

 Asymmetric replies 
Dutch Defence  1.d4 f5
Benoni Defense  1.d4 c5 or 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5
Benko Gambit  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5
King's Indian Defence  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7
Grünfeld Defence  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5
Nimzo-Indian Defence  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4
Queen's Indian Defence 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6
Budapest Gambit 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5

 Other opening moves 
Zukertort opening  1.Nf3
English opening  1.c4
Bird's opening 1.f4

 Sources 
 Sources for beginners 
There are few opening book for beginners. Some degree of understanding is needed before the details of an opening can be grasped. The endgame and middlegame should be studied before opening theory. The following books show complete games with elementary explanations of the moves:
Chernev, Irving 1998. Logical chess: move by move. London:Batsford. 
Chandler, Murray 2004. Chess for children. London:Gambit. 
King, Daniel 2000. Chess: from first moves to checkmate. London:Kingfisher. Illustrated, 64 pages. 
Pritchard, David Brine 2008. The right way to play chess. 8th ed, Right Way.  
Wolff, Patrick 2005. The complete idiot’s guide to chess. 3rd ed, New York:Alpha. 

 Other sources 
None of these are suitable for beginners, but might be used by chess teachers and players of intermediate strength. Tip for teachers: always check the book's reviews.
John Watson. Mastering the Chess Openings, Gambit Publications. Four volumes by a leading American author and chess coach. 
Volume 1 (1. e4):  (2006)
Volume 2 (1. d4):  (2007)
Volume 3 (1. c4):  (2009)
Volume 4: a wide-ranging discussion of general opening topics.  (2010)
Openings reference works:
Nick deFirmian et al. 2008. Modern chess openings, 15th ed, Random House N.Y.   (these two versions are almost identical)
John Nunn et al. 1999. Nunn's chess openings. Everyman, London. 

 Related pages 
Gambit

 References 

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Openings