Chess Openings for Beginners: 5 Easy Picks

Chess opens with twenty possible first moves for White and twenty replies for Black — four hundred positions after a single move each. The good news for beginners: you don’t need to memorize lines. You need five solid openings, three for White and two for Black, that get you to a playable middlegame without falling into a trap on move five. Here are the five that have taught more beginners than any others.

How openings actually work

Every opening tries to do three things: control the center (the d4, e4, d5, e5 squares), develop minor pieces (knights and bishops) toward useful squares, and castle the king to safety. If you do those three things, you’ve played the opening correctly — even if you’ve never heard of the line you’re in.

Beginners lose openings by chasing the opponent’s pieces with pawns, moving the queen out too early, or moving the same piece twice before development is complete. Pick an opening below, follow the development plan, and you’ll be fine.

1. The Italian Game (White)

Moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4

The classic beginner opening, and one of the oldest in recorded chess — analyzed by Greco in the 1600s. White plays the king pawn forward, develops the king’s knight to attack Black’s e5 pawn, and points the king’s bishop at f7, the weakest square in Black’s position. From here you have two main plans: the quiet Giuoco Pianissimo (3…Bc5 4. d3 — slow, positional) or the sharper Evans Gambit (4. b4 — sacrifices a pawn for fast development).

Why it’s a good first opening: every move has a clear purpose, and the resulting positions are open and intuitive. You can almost always castle by move six.

2. The Ruy Lopez (White)

Moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5

The Spanish Opening, named for 16th-century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura. Same first two moves as the Italian, but the bishop goes to b5 — pinning Black’s knight against the king. The threat isn’t immediate (Black can defend with 3…a6), but the long-term pressure on the e5 pawn shapes the whole game.

The Ruy Lopez is more strategically demanding than the Italian, but it’s playable at every level from beginner to world champion. Magnus Carlsen plays it. So can you. Start with the Closed Variation (3…a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7) and don’t worry about memorizing deep theory.

3. The Queen’s Gambit (White)

Moves: 1. d4 d5 2. c4

White offers a pawn that Black usually shouldn’t take. If Black plays 2…dxc4 (the Queen’s Gambit Accepted), White will eventually recover the pawn and have a strong center. If Black declines with 2…e6 (the Queen’s Gambit Declined), you both build solid pawn structures and play a positional middlegame.

The Queen’s Gambit is the canonical 1. d4 opening — slow, structural, and far less tactical than 1. e4 lines. It’s also the easiest closed opening to learn because the early plans for White are well-known: develop the queen’s knight to c3, the king’s bishop to e2 or d3, castle, and start pushing on the queenside.

4. The London System (White)

Moves: 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4

The opening that has launched a million YouTube tutorials. The London System is a “setup opening” — White plays roughly the same moves regardless of what Black does. Knights to f3 and d2, bishop to f4, pawns to e3 and c3, bishop to d3, castle. That’s the whole plan.

Pros: easy to remember, hard to mess up, leads to solid playable middlegames. Cons: White doesn’t fight hard for an opening advantage, and stronger Black players will neutralize it. For your first thousand games, that trade-off is fine. The London is currently popular at the top level too, played by Carlsen and Caruana.

5. The Caro-Kann Defense (Black against 1. e4)

Moves: 1. e4 c6

Most beginner guides recommend the Sicilian or French against 1. e4. Both are great openings, both are absolute briar patches of theory. The Caro-Kann gives you a solid, well-developed position with very little memorization. After 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 (or 3. exd5), Black develops normally — knights to f6 and d7, bishop to f5 or g4, pawn to e6, castle kingside.

The Caro-Kann’s reputation: structurally sound, slightly passive, very hard to lose quickly. World champions Karpov, Petrosian, and Capablanca all used it. As a beginner Black piece, you’re trying to survive the opening — the Caro-Kann is the easiest way to do that.

What about Black against 1. d4?

The simplest answer for beginners: play 1…d5 and treat it as a Queen’s Gambit Declined (2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 etc.). Develop the same way you would as White in the Queen’s Gambit — symmetrical positions are easier to navigate than asymmetric ones when you’re still learning.

If you want something more dynamic, the King’s Indian Defense (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7) is the most popular ambitious Black system at every level. It’s also deeply theoretical — save it for when you’ve outgrown this list.

Opening principles that matter more than the moves

1. Control the center. Push a central pawn (e4, d4, or both) on move one or two.
2. Develop knights before bishops. Knights have fewer good squares; commit them first.
3. Castle within ten moves. King safety beats almost every other consideration in the opening.
4. Don’t move the queen early. She’ll get chased by minor pieces, costing you tempo.
5. Don’t move the same piece twice. Each move should develop a new piece or improve a pawn structure.
6. Connect your rooks. By the end of the opening, both rooks should be on the back rank with no pieces between them.

Memorize those six principles and you’ll play a reasonable opening even in lines you’ve never seen.

How much theory do beginners actually need?

Five to ten moves deep, with a clear plan for moves ten through twenty. That’s it. Going deeper into opening theory at the beginner level is wasted time — you’ll lose 90% of your games to middlegame blunders that have nothing to do with the opening. Play your repertoire, get to a middlegame you understand, and spend your study time on tactics (pins, forks, skewers, basic checkmates).

Where to practice

Lichess and Chess.com both let you play opening lines against bots set to specific lines, and both have free opening explorers that show what masters have played. The Lichess opening trainer is genuinely good and totally free. For a slower study tool, ChessTempo’s opening database is also free.

For our beginner-level checkmate guide, see how to win at chess as a beginner; for variants and chess-likes, browse our games like chess list. If you need a brain reset between games, the Chrome Dino game is one tab away.

Frequently asked questions

What is the easiest chess opening for beginners to learn?

The London System for White. It’s a setup opening — you play roughly the same moves regardless of what Black does, which removes most of the memorization. The Italian Game is a close second if you prefer open, tactical positions.

Should I learn one opening or several?

Two for White (one 1. e4, one 1. d4) and two for Black (one against 1. e4, one against 1. d4). That’s a complete beginner repertoire. Adding more is unnecessary until you reach intermediate level.

Is the Queen’s Gambit actually a gambit?

Technically yes, but the pawn is hard to keep — most strong players regain it in a few moves through tactical pressure on the queenside. The opening is named for the offer, not because Black usually accepts it.

What is the worst opening for beginners?

Heavily theoretical openings like the Najdorf Sicilian, the Grünfeld Defense, or the Sveshnikov Sicilian. They’re great openings — but each has fifteen or twenty moves of forced theory, and one mistake gets you crushed. Save them for after you’ve played a few hundred games.

Do I need to memorize opening moves?

Some memorization helps — knowing your first six to eight moves prevents you from blundering pieces in the opening. Past that, understanding the plan (what squares you want, where the pieces belong) is far more useful than memorizing 20 moves of theory.

The bottom line

Pick two openings for White (Italian or Ruy Lopez plus London or Queen’s Gambit) and two for Black (Caro-Kann and a Queen’s Gambit Declined setup). Learn the first eight moves and the standard development plan for each. Then spend the rest of your study time on tactics, not theory. Win or lose, the opening is the smallest part of your improvement curve — but the right five openings make every game easier to navigate.

Related guides

• Best Chess Openings for Black to Equalize Fast
• Chess Tactics for Beginners: Forks, Pins and Skewers
• Chess Strategies for Beginners: 10 Principles to Win More Games