Best chess openings for beginners? Week 30, when I switched to 1.e4
Week 30 (August 2–4, 2024) was a three-day week with a change I hadn't made since my very first game: I opened 1.e4 with White. Every White game I'd played from January to late July started with 1.d4. This week I played 1.e4 in ten of my twelve White games. Overall I played 25 rapid games, won 13 and lost 12, and went from 980 to 985. If you're looking for the best chess openings for beginners, this is one adult improver's small, honest sample of what happens when you switch.
The week in numbers
| Games | 25, all 10-minute rapid |
| Wins / losses / draws | 13 / 12 / 0 |
| Rating | 980 → 985 (+5) |
| Average accuracy | 82.3 % |
| Blunders (Stockfish) | 29 (opponents: 35) |
| Most played openings | King's Pawn Opening (5), Philidor Defense (3), Scandinavian Defense (2) |
| With White / with Black | 8–4 / 5–8 |
With 1.e4 I scored 6 wins and 4 losses, against the Philidor, the Scandinavian, the Sicilian, the Alekhine and several Ruy Lopez lines. My two 1.d4 games were both wins. My average accuracy, 82.3 %, was my best weekly figure since April, and I blundered less than my opponents. Seven of my 13 wins ended in checkmate. Of my 49 mistakes and blunders, 26 came in the opening, which is not surprising in positions I had never played before.
The Black side looks worse than it was. Five of my eight Black losses are listed as "King's Pawn Opening", and four of them (#758, #760, #761 and #762, all on August 2 between 18:18 and 18:30) ended with me resigning before making a single move. Those four games have no accuracy because there was nothing to analyse. Friday, August 2 was fourteen games in all; the next two days I went 9–2.
Three key moments
Where to put the king when a knight forks it
Game #750, Black against Moooanch2004 (982). A strange position: White's knight on c7 was giving check to my king on e6 and attacking my rook on a8 at the same time, a fork. My king had to move. About equal, +0.40.
I had a counter-threat of my own: my knight on d4 can jump to c2 with check, forking White's king and the rook on a1. So if White took my rook on a8, I could take the one on a1. The question was where my king should stand for that exchange. 11...Ke7 gave White +2.49. Stockfish's 11...Kd6 attacks the knight on c7, which has no defender, and from d6 the king also covers c7, the only way back for a knight that takes on a8 (b6 is covered by my a7 pawn). In the engine's line 12.Nxa8 Nxc2+ the game stays close, about +0.8. One king move decided whether White's knight would get out alive (game on Chess.com).
Mate in four, and I took a pawn
Game #751, White against Nigam2311 (973). My bishop on f6 was deep in Black's position, near the king, and Stockfish saw mate in four.
16.Bxd4 wins a pawn and pulls my bishop away from f6, where it was doing the most important job on the board. The engine's 16.Qd2 threatens mate next move: the queen heads for the dark squares around Black's king, and in its line 16...f4 17.Qxf4 h6 18.Qxh6 the mate comes anyway. From mate in four to +0.61 in one capture. I did win this game by checkmate later, so the missed mate cost me nothing on the scoreboard, but it's the same blindness to checks and mating ideas that cost me game #607 in week 25 (game on Chess.com).
The queen move into a skewer
Game #752, Black against raksu2 (1004), in a Giuoco Pianissimo. White was a little better, +1.71, and my queen on d5 was attacking the knight on c4.
9...Qd4 attacks both knights. But it puts my queen on the same diagonal as my bishop on c5, and 10.Be3 attacks the queen with the bishop right behind it. That's a skewer: the queen has to move, and then White takes the bishop (10...Qg4 11.Bxc5 in the engine's line). +1.71 became +7.45. The modest 9...Qc6 keeps everything together. I abandoned this one (game on Chess.com).
The lesson of the week
The switch to 1.e4 went fine, 6–4, and my accuracy went up. But none of my key mistakes came from the first move. They came from what I always miss: a mate threat (#751), where my king should stand (#750) and a line between my queen and my own bishop (#752). So my answer to the best chess openings for beginners question, at least for me, is that the opening should be one where I understand the plans well enough to keep my attention on the board. The opening sets up the game; checking forcing moves decides it. I'd rather play 1.e4 or 1.d4 well than keep switching to escape mistakes that follow me anyway.
All games this week
| Game # | Date | Colour | Opponent (rating) | Result | Opening | Accuracy | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 750 | Aug 2 | Black | Moooanch2004 (982) | Loss | Kings Pawn Opening | 75.0 | game |
| 751 | Aug 2 | White | Nigam2311 (973) | Win | Nimzowitsch Defense | 76.5 | game |
| 752 | Aug 2 | Black | raksu2 (1004) | Loss | Giuoco Piano Game Giuoco Pianissimo Variation | 79.4 | game |
| 753 | Aug 2 | White | playercswet (862) | Win | Queens Pawn Opening Accelerated London System | 95.4 | game |
| 754 | Aug 2 | Black | Carpazov (957) | Win | Reti Opening Old Indian Attack | 93.7 | game |
| 755 | Aug 2 | Black | Jeyacanada (1010) | Loss | Italian Game Knight Attack Normal Variation | 50.9 | game |
| 756 | Aug 2 | White | UsmanVakharia (976) | Loss | Philidor Defense | 58.2 | game |
| 757 | Aug 2 | White | ahmedgm641 (946) | Win | Ruy Lopez Opening Morphy Defense Columbus Variation | 95.4 | game |
| 758 | Aug 2 | Black | hts30861 (1001) | Loss | Kings Pawn Opening | — | game |
| 759 | Aug 2 | White | mohitmanglani (988) | Loss | Scandinavian Defense | 69.4 | game |
| 760 | Aug 2 | Black | bigmoneyzay (993) | Loss | Kings Pawn Opening | — | game |
| 761 | Aug 2 | Black | MoraalexV (970) | Loss | Kings Pawn Opening | — | game |
| 762 | Aug 2 | Black | dhdg1000 (1021) | Loss | Kings Pawn Opening | — | game |
| 763 | Aug 2 | White | dav1d996 (926) | Loss | Philidor Defense | 90.9 | game |
| 764 | Aug 3 | White | Bayuanggara14998 (904) | Win | Scandinavian Defense | 84.7 | game |
| 765 | Aug 3 | Black | rraulsanchez (911) | Win | Ruy Lopez Opening Classical Central Variation | 94.7 | game |
| 766 | Aug 3 | White | Jperd-pas (851) | Win | Sicilian Defense | 100.0 | game |
| 767 | Aug 3 | Black | emmveee122 (939) | Loss | Queens Pawn Opening Blackmar Diemer Ryder Gambit | 71.8 | game |
| 768 | Aug 3 | Black | eldpoor321 (928) | Win | Ruy Lopez Opening Cozio Defense | 75.5 | game |
| 769 | Aug 3 | White | bhmcaa (946) | Loss | Ruy Lopez Opening | 79.3 | game |
| 770 | Aug 4 | White | AboBadr2018 (937) | Win | Ruy Lopez Opening Classical Defense | 81.9 | game |
| 771 | Aug 4 | Black | SuperPevvv (938) | Win | Bishops Opening Boi Variation | 77.2 | game |
| 772 | Aug 4 | White | baal54 (933) | Win | Alekhines Defense Normal Variation | 95.7 | game |
| 773 | Aug 4 | Black | SmetKos (974) | Win | Center Game Accepted | 93.6 | game |
| 774 | Aug 4 | White | usernameistakenistaken (965) | Win | Philidor Defense | 88.4 | game |
Previous: week 29 · Next: week 31 · The whole series: the journey hub · See your own opening stats and key moments: review your own games like this.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best chess openings for beginners?
I can only share my own data. After 29 weeks of starting every White game with 1.d4, I played 1.e4 in ten of my twelve White games this week and scored 6 wins and 4 losses with it. My two 1.d4 games were both wins.
Does switching openings help you stop blundering?
Not by itself, in my case. My worst moments this week were a missed mate in 4 and a queen move into a skewer, and neither had anything to do with which first move I chose.
What is a skewer in chess?
An attack on a valuable piece with a less valuable one behind it on the same line. In game #752 my 9...Qd4 let White play 10.Be3, attacking my queen with my bishop on c5 behind it.