Chess.com
Chess.com
Explore your games. Find your next improvement.
Is there a best opening at your level?
Out of 348 comparisons across ratings and time controls, 3 show an opening clearly above or below its colour's average. Most openings score about the same.
At club level the opening you pick changes your score far less than what happens after it. The best choice is the one whose plans you understand and enjoy playing.
From 103,227 games by 1,382 Chess.com players of every level, September 2026. Updated every week.
How they score: Under 1000
As White
- Queen's Pawn Opening 52.7% ±2.0
In line with the average (+0.9) · 423 players
- King's Pawn Opening 52.1% ±2.0
In line with the average (+0.3) · 407 players
- Van't Kruijs Opening 50.6% ±3.2
In line with the average (-1.2) · 279 players
- Bishop's Opening 55.5% ±3.0
In line with the average (+3.7) · 265 players
- Réti Opening 53.2% ±3.4
In line with the average (+1.4) · 248 players
- Vienna Game 53.6% ±3.7
In line with the average (+1.8) · 224 players
- Queen's Gambit 54.8% ±3.7
In line with the average (+3.0) · 222 players
- Italian Game 53.3% ±3.3
In line with the average (+1.5) · 218 players
As Black
- Scandinavian Defense 50.3% ±2.3
In line with the average (+2.1) · 353 players
- French Defense 47.4% ±2.6
In line with the average (-0.8) · 333 players
- Caro-Kann Defense 51.7% ±2.9
In line with the average (+3.5) · 285 players
- Pirc Defense 48.6% ±3.3
In line with the average (+0.4) · 271 players
- Nimzowitsch Defense 47.6% ±3.3
In line with the average (-0.6) · 270 players
- Sicilian Defense 52.3% ±3.1
In line with the average (+4.1) · 246 players
- Philidor Defense 46.6% ±3.1
In line with the average (-1.6) · 239 players
- Petrov's Defense 45.8% ±3.6
In line with the average (-2.4) · 219 players
Openings are ordered by how many players use them, not by score: sorting by score would put whoever got luckiest in this sample on top. The marker on each bar is that colour's average score at this rating and time control; an opening is only called above or below it when the gap is far beyond the margin (±), because dozens are compared at once.
Which of your openings cost you points?
Openings may score the same for everyone, but not for you. Type your Chess.com username and see which of your own lines win and which ones lose.
How these numbers are made
Every week we draw about 1,008 Chess.com players at random from the public player lists of twelve countries, never one already drawn in the previous weeks, and these numbers add up the latest 2 weekly samples (2,016 players, their rated games from September 2026). No player can add more than 10 games to one opening and time control, ratings bands are separate for each time control, and a band needs at least 40 games from 10 players to be shown. Each opening is compared with the average score of the colour that plays it, at the same rating and time control. A gap is only called real beyond 3.29 standard errors: with so many comparisons, a looser line would crown openings by chance. Players on this site are never part of the sample.