Best Opening Moves in Chess Archives

In chess, White always goes first. That gives White a small edge to control the game early. But playing Black is not just about waiting. It’s about fighting back, using smart plans, and turning defense into attack.

When you choose your opening as Black, you’re choosing how you want to play. Do you like slow and steady games? Do you enjoy wild, fast attacks? Or do you want to trick your opponent into making mistakes?

This guide shows you 10 of the best openings for Black. We’ll explain not just the moves, but the ideas and history behind each one. These openings will help you feel ready against any opponent — and even help you win with strong counter-attacks.

The Unbalancing Acts: For the Tactical Fighter

These openings are for players who love sharp, tricky games. If you enjoy attacking and don’t mind some risk, these are for you.

1. The Sicilian Defense (1. e4 c5)

This is one of the most popular and powerful openings for Black. By playing 1…c5, Black stops White from taking full control of the center. The game becomes very unbalanced — which means lots of chances to win.

Main Idea: Fight for the center square d4, use your pawns on the queenside, and launch a strong attack.
Feel: Fast, sharp, and full of tactics. You need to study it well, but it’s worth it.
Famous Line: The Najdorf (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6) — This setup is flexible and helps Black prepare for big plans.

2. The Dutch Defense (1. d4 f5)

This is a bold way to answer 1.d4. Black grabs space on the kingside and looks to attack early. It’s risky, but it can surprise your opponent.

Main Idea: Control the e4 square, attack on the kingside, and create a tough game.
Feel: Bold, tricky, and full of energy.
Famous Line: The Leningrad Dutch — Black puts the bishop on g7, mixing ideas from the King’s Indian Defense.

The Hypermodern Style: For the Smart Planner

These openings don’t fight for the center with pawns early. Instead, they use pieces to control the center from a distance and wait for the right moment to strike.

3. The King's Indian Defense (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6)

This opening lets White build a strong center at first. But Black then attacks that center hard with pawns and pieces. It can lead to wild games where both players try to checkmate.

Main Idea: Let White take the center, then attack it strongly, often with a big kingside push.
Feel: Dangerous, deep, and exciting.
History: Used by famous world champions like Tal and Kasparov. This opening feels like a battle of legends!

4. The Nimzo-Indian Defense (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4)

This is one of the smartest openings against 1.d4. By pinning White’s knight, Black stops White from getting a perfect setup. The game can lead to many different types of positions.

Main Idea: Control the e4 square, mess up White’s pawn structure, and develop quickly.
Feel: Calm, smart, and full of options.
Famous Line: The Classical Variation (4.Qc2) — White tries to break the pin and fight back. Leads to long, interesting games.

The Rock-Solid Choices: For the Safe Player

These openings are for players who like strong, safe positions. They slowly build up good plans and avoid early mistakes.

5. The Caro-Kann Defense (1. e4 c6)

This is a safe and solid way to deal with 1.e4. It avoids wild play and helps Black get a strong center with good piece development.

Main Idea: Build a strong pawn setup, challenge White’s center, and develop safely.
Feel: Strong, safe, and clear.
Famous Line: The Advance Variation (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5) — White takes space, and Black tries to break the center later.

6. The Slav Defense (1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6)

This is a reliable way to answer the Queen’s Gambit. The pawn on c6 supports the d5 pawn, and the bishop can come out easily.

Main Idea: Keep control of the center and develop smoothly.
Feel: Strong, flexible, and dependable.

7. The Queen’s Gambit Declined (1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6)

One of the oldest and most trusted openings. By not taking White’s c4 pawn, Black keeps a solid setup.

Main Idea: Keep a strong center and wait for chances to break it open later.
Feel: Classic, careful, and full of deep ideas.

The Classics: For the All-Round Player

These openings are loved by players of all types. They are simple to learn but full of ideas.

8. The French Defense (1. e4 e6)

Black prepares to play …d5 and fight for the center. The game becomes more closed, and both sides build plans on opposite sides of the board.

Main Idea: Create a solid pawn chain and fight on the queenside.
Feel: Strong, slow, and smart.

9. The Scandinavian Defense (1. e4 d5)

A very direct way to meet 1.e4. Black hits the center at once and forces the game to open up.

Main Idea: Challenge White’s center early, and develop quickly.
Feel: Fast, open, and bold.

10. The Open Game (1. e4 e5)

The most classical reply to 1.e4. Black plays the same move as White and goes into well-known games like the Ruy Lopez or Italian Game.

Main Idea: Fight for the center, develop quickly, and follow basic chess rules.
Feel: Classical, balanced, and full of history.

Find Your Favorite, Play with Confidence

Choosing your opening is like picking your style. The best opening is the one you enjoy and understand.

Try different ones, learn from grandmaster games, and find what suits you best. And remember — your board matters too! Whether you want a tournament-ready Staunton set or a classic wooden board like the old masters used, check out ChessBazaar to find your perfect setup.

In a game of chess, there are six different chess pieces or chessmen used on chessboards. These are King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, Rook, and Pawn. On a chessboard, a chess player starts playing with 16 pieces of chessmen either with white sides of pieces or black(dark) side of pieces. Every rated game contains 1 each extra pair of queen for pawn promotion. Even the chess equipments which are used is a standard tournament chess set approved by FIDE.

King Movement

The king, without any doubt, is the most important piece in chess. The purpose of the game is to capture the opponent’s king so that its escape becomes impossible, which is also called “checkmate” in chess term. If an opponent’s king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture on the next move. If this cannot be done, the king is said to be in checkmate. Although the king is the most important piece, it is also one of the weakest pieces in the game.

This must be taken into consideration that white always starts with the king on the first rank to the right of the queen. Black stands directly opposite to the white’s king. With the squares labeled as in algebraic notation, the white king starts on e1 and black on e8. As shown in the diagram below, the king can move only one square in any direction. An interesting point to note about this rule is that two kings can never stand next to each other or capture each other. Though a king may be, and often are, used to help to checkmate the opposing king by guarding squares. The moment of King is generally described by the letter K.

Queen Movement

The Queen is, without a doubt, the most powerful piece on the chessboard. She can move with the combination of both bishop and rook in any direction (barring any obstruction). In the diagram below, the green dots indicate the squares the queen may move. She can cover 27 squares. This is a healthy percentage of the board, 42 percent.

This is a reason that in almost every chess game, the pawn is promoted to a queen. In a chessboard, a white queen sits on a white square and the black queen starts on a black square.

The Queen is described by Q. In algebraic notation, the white Queen starts on d1 and the black queen starts on d8. The queen can be moved in any number of unoccupied squares, expect Knight’s move, in vertically, horizontally and diagonally.

Bishop Movement

The bishop sits next to King and Queen in the chess game. It may move

any number of squares in a diagonal direction (barring any obstruction). Each player begins the game with two bishops, one on White Square and one on Dark Square. Because they move only diagonally, they always remain on the same colored squares.

They may not jump over the pieces like a knight, but together they can cover a large area and can limit the opponent’s movement.

The Bishop is generally described by B. In algebraic notation, the starting squares are c1 and f1 for white bishops and c8 and f8 for black bishops.

Knight Movement

The knight in the game is generally represented by a horse’s torso. Unlike any of the chess pieces in the game, the knight may jump over other pieces. This gives it a degree of flexibility and makes it a powerful piece especially in a game where the board is cluttered with the pieces. Each chess player starts with the two knights each one on the different squares. In the diagram below, the yellow dots are the opponent’s pieces which are being passed over and the green dots are the squares where the knight may move or captures the opponent’s piece)

Letter N generally describes the Knight. Some early Staunton sets come with Kingside Knight stamping as it becomes easy for the players to distinguish between two knights as these pieces can move to any squares, unlike bishops. Though, the value of the Knight is equivalent to the bishop i.e 3. The knight’s movement can also be viewed as “L” laid out at any horizontal or vertical angle. In algebraic notation, the starting squares of Knights are b1 and g1 for white side and b8 and g8 for black knights.

Rook Movement

The rook, mostly shaped like castle or towers, is among the powerful pieces on the board. The value of the rook is 5, more than bishop and knight and only after the Queen. The rook can be worth a bishop/knight and two pawns. The rook can move any number of squares (barring any obstruction) in a straight line along any row or column. As shown in the diagram below, the rook can move or capture in any square that has green dots.

R generally describes the rooks. The rooks also come in Kingside stamping in early pre-Staunton sets so that players can easily distinguish between these two. In algebraic notation, the white rook starts on a1 and h1 and dark rook starts on a8 and h8. The rooks may move horizontally or vertically. The rook also participates, with a king, also known as castling. Know more about castling>

Pawn Movement

In a chess game, players start with eight pawns on either side. These are one of the weakest pieces in the chess game and their value is 1, though they have the potential to become the Queen if a pawn reaches to the opponent’s main squares, i.e. a2 reaches a8. Pawns cannot move diagonally or backward, but they move straight ahead unless they are taking another piece where they can change their column.

The pawns are generally described by P. In algebraic notation, the white pawn starts on a2, b2, c2, …., h2, while dark pawns start on a7, b7, c7, …. , h7. Generally, pawns move only one square, however, the exception is the first time is that when a pawn is moved, it may move two squares forward provided there are no obstruction pieces. All eight pawns can move two squares when sitting on their original positions. In the diagram, the green dots show where the pawn may move, and the red dots show where the pawn may capture the piece.