If you are a Grandmaster, it might be better to learn, for example, an opening like Nimzo Indian. But if you are playing against someone who doesn’t have good opening preparation and doesn’t like to play against the initiative, Benko Gambit is a superb choice. If you play against a 2600+ Grandmaster, you may have problems in the opening. In that case, this is a very good choice, as 90% of the time, the game will continue in a positional direction. But suppose you like positional chess, and tomorrow you are playing an aggressive opponent. If you are an aggressive player, this isn’t a good opening to play. Is Stonewall Dutch a good or bad opening? Are you ready to do such tremendous work? If yes, Petroff is good for you. If you want to learn Petroff Defense and play Caruana’s lines, you should learn, analyze very deeply, and memorize many lines. Here Caruana plays 9…Nf6 and then 10.Bd3 c5. When I was analyzing this position I found around ten lines for White, after which Black has no choice other than making moves that will lead the game to a draw.Ĭaruana is super-talented, has an amazing memory, and it’s fine for him to draw against Carlsen. This is one of the main positions in Petroff Defense. GM Fabiano Caruana plays Petroff against top-level Grandmasters, where the draw result is fine for him, and as he plays plenty of lines, he has to memorize really long lines to end the game in a draw. Is Petroff Defense a good or bad opening? However, if the tournament situation makes you play for a win, Pirc Defense becomes a good choice. We've covered that in our course on the Pirc Defense. High-level players play this opening more rarely than Sicilian or Caro Kann, as there are certain problems in the opening. Let’s me share what I think about a few openings: Is Pirc Defense a good or bad opening? Now the question has been changed a lot, hasn’t it? What are the best openings for my aggressive style? What are the best openings in those cases when the only result you must get is a win?Ĥ. What are the best openings when playing against a positional opponent?ģ. What are the most solid openings against 1.e4?Ģ. However, if we specify this question, it will be transformed into a reasonable and very important one.ġ. This article will end your confusion about this topic and give you a good understanding of which openings to choose.Īt first glance, this question doesn’t seem to be good enough, as there are so many openings in chess, and if there were an exact answer to it, all the world's top players would play only that one. “ What are the best chess openings?” is one of the most common questions I get asked as a Grandmaster.Įvery one of us whether asked this question or got from someone.

Best chess opening moves