The Top Five Most-Played Openings Within 1. e4

Lichess has the wonderful feature of its own public opening database, collecting millions, indeed billions, of games played on the website. With it, you can get lost in mountains of data about which openings are most popular, and which ones score the best for White and Black.

What do you think are the most played openings? Here are the top five positions under 1. e4, which is played 62% of the time! (Includes Blitz, Rapid, and Classical games at a 1000+ rating level, taken by a defining move.)

5. Open/Modern Sicilian — 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6/d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4

Of the roughly 4 billion games counted in the database, 44% (1.1 billion) respond 1. …e5. Second place is the Sicilian, 1. …c5, at 469 million. There are so many branches of the Sicilian that pare down the numbers, so we’re going to combine the Open Sicilian (2. …Nc6) and the Modern Sicilian (2. …d6) since they have the same energy, and it would feel wrong to leave the Sicilian entirely off the list. Each contributes around half of the 83 million games at the fourth move.

4. Philidor Defence — 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6

A small surprise. There are 107 million games after 2. …d6. This is carried by the lower range of the rating ladder: 87 million of those are from the 1000 to 1600 groups. It is not a great move for Black; White gets a lot of control over the centre and the game with 3. d4.

3. Ruy Lopez — 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5

One of the true classics. The Ruy Lopez has been played in 108 million games. It closes in on its partner, the Italian, at the 1800- to 2000-level before passing it in popularity at 2200+, where it reaches 40% of games to 3. Bc4’s 33%.

2. Scandinavian — 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5

Hello, #TeamScandi and John Bartholomew! While 1. …d5 is fourth on the list of first moves for Black, it is very characteristic, and does not split into multiple branches. There are 111 million games after 2. …Qxd5, and of those, 84 million attack the queen with 3. Nc3, when there is finally a break into 3. …Qd8, 3. …Qa5, and others.

1. Italian Opening — 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4

No surprise at #1. The Italian Opening is what the vast majority of beginners learn first, to build the habit of developing the kingside pieces and castling. It is perfectly sound at all levels, and stands out at 193 million games.

Honourable mentions:

• The Scotch, 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4, trails closely behind the Ruy Lopez at 77 million games.
• The Caro Kann, 1. e4 c6, appears 170 million times, however it doesn’t have a dominant defining variation beyond the first move.
• Similarly, the French, 1. e4 e6, appears 243 millions times, but by Black’s 2. …d5 the branches are around 30 million games each.
• And finally, the Petroff, 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6, has been played 81 million times, but only a third of those (27 million) enter the Petroff in proper with 3. Nxe5.