What wins for White at your level — the first move, and what follows it
LichessStockfish, depth 22, read 2026-09-26
What are the best chess openings for White?
The answer
At 1400–1599 blitz, 63 openings ranked by worst case, the low end of a figure’s range, not its average. Best: the Danish Gambit, 55.9 over 1.1M games. Score is expected points per game; a draw counts half. From Lichess games played September 2023 to August 2026.
SourceLichess · played September 2023 to August 2026
You playWhite·Lichess 1400–1599·Blitz
White’s first choices
the top 5 of 63 that qualify, ranked by worst case
#OpeningScoreWorst case ↓, which ranks this listTheoryGapGames
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
a1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
3.c3
Black to move · 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 · White’s view
Score55.9%
Worst case55.8%
Theory46.1%
Gap+9.8
Theory puts White at 46.1% here. Players at 1400–1599 blitz get 55.9% — 9.8 more than the position is worth.
Stockfish reads this position at −0.4 for White, 1.1M games behind the result beside it.
The plan
Give up one pawn and offer a second to open both diagonals early, aiming the bishops at the kingside before Black has castled.
Who it suits
Players who would rather have the initiative than the material, and who are comfortable playing a position they cannot take back.
The catch
Declining is a known answer, and against a player who returns the material at the right time White is left a pawn down with the attack gone.
How the games ended
54.4%3.0%42.6%
Win
Draw
Loss
Worst case by rating · blitz
52.255.055.555.855.855.354.253.953.7
010001200140016001800200022002500+
The dashed line is level. It holds level or better at every rating counted here.
Opens the analyzer at this exact position with your rating and clock set. Lichess sign-in is needed there — then star the line and it enters your Drill schedule.
Black to move · 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 · White’s view
Score55.2%
Worst case54.9%
Theory53.8%
Gap+1.4
Theory puts White at 53.8% here. Players at 1400–1599 blitz get 55.2% — 1.4 more than the position is worth.
Stockfish reads this position at +0.4 for White, 83K games behind the result beside it.
The plan
Combine a queen’s-pawn centre with a fianchettoed bishop, so the long diagonal presses on Black’s queenside for the whole game.
Who it suits
Players who are content to hold a small, lasting pull and convert it slowly rather than force matters.
The catch
Black can take the c-pawn and hold it for a while; recovering it is a technique in itself, and impatience there costs the pull.
How the games ended
53.1%4.1%42.8%
Win
Draw
Loss
Worst case by rating · blitz
53.954.955.154.954.154.053.854.756.7
010001200140016001800200022002500+
The dashed line is level. It holds level or better at every rating counted here.
Opens the analyzer at this exact position with your rating and clock set. Lichess sign-in is needed there — then star the line and it enters your Drill schedule.
Black to move · 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 c5 4.Bd3 d5 5.b3 · White’s view
Score55.5%
Worst case54.9%
Theory51.7%
Gap+3.8
Theory puts White at 51.7% here. Players at 1400–1599 blitz get 55.5% — 3.8 more than the position is worth.
Stockfish reads this position at +0.2 for White, 20K games behind the result beside it.
The plan
Build a small, sound centre with pawns on d4 and e3, develop the bishop outside the chain, and fianchetto the other one behind it.
Who it suits
Players who want the same setup against most Black replies and would rather outplay an opponent than out-prepare one.
The catch
The setup concedes the sharper central break, so a well-prepared opponent equalises comfortably and the game is decided later.
How the games ended
53.7%3.5%42.8%
Win
Draw
Loss
Worst case by rating · blitz
48.754.654.454.954.754.754.955.353.6
010001200140016001800200022002500+
The dashed line is level. It drops under level at 0.
Opens the analyzer at this exact position with your rating and clock set. Lichess sign-in is needed there — then star the line and it enters your Drill schedule.
Black to move · 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 · White’s view
Score54.8%
Worst case54.8%
Theory53.5%
Gap+1.3
Theory puts White at 53.5% here. Players at 1400–1599 blitz get 54.8% — 1.3 more than the position is worth.
Stockfish reads this position at +0.4 for White, 7.1M games behind the result beside it.
The plan
Open the centre on move three, trading the d-pawn for Black’s e-pawn to free the pieces before Black completes development.
Who it suits
Players who want an open game from 1.e4 e5 without learning the long theory the Ruy Lopez asks for.
The catch
Releasing the tension early hands Black a clear plan too, and the main lines are analysed far enough that surprise is not part of the value.
How the games ended
52.9%3.8%43.3%
Win
Draw
Loss
Worst case by rating · blitz
53.255.055.054.854.454.054.054.855.7
010001200140016001800200022002500+
The dashed line is level. It holds level or better at every rating counted here.
Opens the analyzer at this exact position with your rating and clock set. Lichess sign-in is needed there — then star the line and it enters your Drill schedule.
Black to move · 1.d4 d5 2.c4 · White’s view
Score54.2%
Worst case54.2%
Theory53.1%
Gap+1.1
Theory puts White at 53.1% here. Players at 1400–1599 blitz get 54.2% — 1.1 more than the position is worth.
Stockfish reads this position at +0.3 for White, 10M games behind the result beside it.
The plan
Offer the c-pawn to pull Black’s d-pawn off the centre, then occupy the centre with pawns and develop behind them.
Who it suits
Players who want a principled, well-mapped game and are happy for it to be decided by understanding rather than by a trap.
The catch
It is not a true gambit and Black knows it; both the Accepted and Declined lines are thoroughly worked out, so nothing here is free.
How the games ended
52.3%3.8%43.9%
Win
Draw
Loss
Worst case by rating · blitz
53.954.854.654.253.853.653.854.455.7
010001200140016001800200022002500+
The dashed line is level. It holds level or better at every rating counted here.
Opens the analyzer at this exact position with your rating and clock set. Lichess sign-in is needed there — then star the line and it enters your Drill schedule.
Every figure is an expected score out of 100 for White, so they can be read against each other. Score is what players at your level actually get — a draw counts half, so it is not a win rate. Worst case — the Floor, in the app’s own vocabulary, and the same figure under either name — is the worst score a line still clears, 90% confident; it is what ranks. Theory is what the position is worth under perfect play, read by Stockfish at depth 22 and put on the same scale. Gap is Score minus Theory: how much more, or less, players get from the position than it is theoretically worth. Games is how many the figures were counted over. Open a row for the position, its plan, and the win rate, draw rate and loss rate behind its score.
The rest of the ladder
The other 58 that qualify at 1400–1599 blitz, ranked the same way and not explained — this is the reference, not the recommendation. The full ladder on Opening data carries every opening with enough games behind it, at this same 1400–1599 blitz — so its figures and these are the same figures.
At this level the family you choose moves your score by a point or two. What moves it more is the position you reach and whether you know it — which is what the analyzer and your drills are for.
Where the openings most people play land
the most-played openings the shortlist did not reach
#OpeningScoreWorst case ↓, which ranks this listTheoryGapGames
Black to move · 1.d4 · White’s view
Score52.6%
Worst case52.6%
Theory52.7%
Gap−0.1
Theory puts White at 52.7% here, and players at 1400–1599 blitz get 52.6%. The results and the engine agree.
Stockfish reads this position at +0.3 for White, 26M games behind the result beside it.
The plan
Start with the d-pawn and keep the options open, choosing a system once Black has shown what they intend.
Who it suits
Players who want to reach a middlegame without committing to a named theoretical line.
The catch
Flexibility is not an advantage on its own; against a developed repertoire the game transposes into that repertoire anyway.
How the games ended
50.5%4.2%45.3%
Win
Draw
Loss
Worst case by rating · blitz
50.952.952.952.652.752.953.554.556.9
010001200140016001800200022002500+
The dashed line is level. It holds level or better at every rating counted here.
Opens the analyzer at this exact position with your rating and clock set. Lichess sign-in is needed there — then star the line and it enters your Drill schedule.
Black to move · 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 · White’s view
Score51.9%
Worst case51.9%
Theory53.4%
Gap−1.5
Theory puts White at 53.4% here, and players at 1400–1599 blitz get 51.9% — 1.5 less than the position is worth.
Stockfish reads this position at +0.4 for White, 15M games behind the result beside it.
The plan
Develop the bishop to c4 to aim at f7 and castle quickly, contesting the centre with c3 and d4 when the pieces are ready.
Who it suits
Players who want a natural, classical game where the moves make sense on sight.
The catch
The quiet lines are very well understood, and a prepared opponent reaches equality without needing to remember anything unusual.
How the games ended
50.1%3.6%46.3%
Win
Draw
Loss
Worst case by rating · blitz
52.052.552.251.951.851.651.853.155.0
010001200140016001800200022002500+
The dashed line is level. It holds level or better at every rating counted here.
Opens the analyzer at this exact position with your rating and clock set. Lichess sign-in is needed there — then star the line and it enters your Drill schedule.
Black to move · 1.e4 · White’s view
Score51.9%
Worst case51.9%
Theory52.9%
Gap−1.0
Theory puts White at 52.9% here, and players at 1400–1599 blitz get 51.9% — 1.0 less than the position is worth.
Stockfish reads this position at +0.3 for White, 9.5M games behind the result beside it.
The plan
Open with the e-pawn and choose the system later, keeping every classical setup available for a move or two.
Who it suits
Players who want the open games without deciding between them before the board does.
The catch
Deferring the choice also defers the initiative, and Black is given time to reach a structure they prefer.
How the games ended
49.9%4.0%46.1%
Win
Draw
Loss
Worst case by rating · blitz
51.352.552.351.952.052.152.453.553.6
010001200140016001800200022002500+
The dashed line is level. It holds level or better at every rating counted here.
Opens the analyzer at this exact position with your rating and clock set. Lichess sign-in is needed there — then star the line and it enters your Drill schedule.
What would change this
Your level or your clock. The ranking is computed at 1400–1599 blitz; change either above and the list re-ranks, because which openings score well is not the same question at every level.
What you are ranking for. This list ranks by worst case, so a steady opening outranks a streakier one with the same average.
How well you know the position. The engine column says which lines are sound at depth; where it disagrees with the result, the opening is scoring on positions players find hard to handle rather than on the evaluation.
One caveat
These are the results of players who chose this opening and play it on purpose. They are not a promise for someone picking it up today, and a difference in results is not evidence that the opening caused it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big is White’s first-move advantage?
At 1400–1599 blitz, White wins 49.7% and Black 46.5%, with 3.8% drawn, over 271,194,984 games — an expected score of 51.6 for White before either side has chosen an opening.
Can I play one opening against everything as White?
Largely, yes: White chooses the first move, so a single system is reachable against most replies. What it cannot control is which defence Black picks, and the shortlist here ranks first choices rather than complete repertoires.
What should a beginner play as White?
Ranked at 0–999 blitz rather than at this guide's own level, the best-scoring is the Rapport-Jobava System at 55.3 over 291K games. Those are the results of players rated there, not advice about which is easiest to learn — change the level above to read the ranking at yours.
What does “worst case” mean here?
It is the Floor, which these guides print as Worst case: the low end of a figure’s range, not its average. It ranks the list because a steady result is worth more to a player than a high average that swings.
Do these results mean I will win more?
No. These are the results of players who chose these lines and play them on purpose, not what happens when someone picks one up today. A difference in results is not evidence that the opening caused it.