--- title: "Most popular chess openings and win rates" url: "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics" last_updated: "2026-11-07" type: "index" summary: "The most popular chess openings and how often White wins, with opening statistics from 1,619,715 rated Lichess games on 1 September 2026." related: ["https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/under-1200.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/1200-1599.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/1600-1999.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/2000-plus.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/sicilian-defense.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/queens-pawn-game.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/french-defense.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/caro-kann-defense.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/scandinavian-defense.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/italian-game.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/kings-pawn-game.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/english-opening.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/philidor-defense.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/queens-gambit-declined.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/scotch-game.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/bishops-opening.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/ruy-lopez.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/pirc-defense.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/modern-defense.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/indian-defense.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/zukertort-opening.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/petrovs-defense.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/four-knights-game.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/vienna-game.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/englund-gambit.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/nimzowitsch-defense.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/nimzo-larsen-attack.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/hungarian-opening.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/slav-defense.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/benoni-defense.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/queens-gambit-accepted.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/kings-gambit-accepted.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/alekhine-defense.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/center-game.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/kings-indian-defense.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/dutch-defense.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/kings-gambit-declined.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/rat-defense.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/blackmar-diemer-gambit.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/nimzo-indian-defense.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles.md"] --- # Most popular chess openings and win rates > **For AI agents:** the complete index of GeorgeLiChess pages is [llms.txt](https://georgelichess.com/llms.txt). Every page is also served as markdown at its URL plus .md. The most popular chess openings and how often White wins, with opening statistics from 1,619,715 rated Lichess games on 1 September 2026. The most popular chess openings in 1,619,715 rated Lichess games on 1 September 2026 were Sicilian Defense, Queen's Pawn Game, French Defense. White scored 51.9% across all openings, with a margin of 0.1 points. Games are between players within 100 rating points, and each page gives the margin of every score. ## What are the most popular chess openings? The table ranks opening families by games played and gives White's score. Where a score differs from the all-opening average of 51.9% by a clear gap, the last column says so; the others show no clear difference. **The 25 most played opening families, 1 September 2026. Families with a page of their own are linked under Related pages.** | Opening | ECO | Games | Share of games | White score | Margin (points) | Against the all-opening average | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Sicilian Defense | B20 | 163,245 | 10.1% | 50.7% | 0.2 | Below | | Queen's Pawn Game | D00 | 153,924 | 9.5% | 52.7% | 0.2 | No clear difference | | French Defense | C00 | 102,129 | 6.3% | 50.5% | 0.3 | Below | | Caro-Kann Defense | B10 | 93,312 | 5.8% | 50.2% | 0.3 | Below | | Scandinavian Defense | B01 | 86,344 | 5.3% | 51.3% | 0.3 | No clear difference | | Italian Game | C50 | 81,584 | 5.0% | 52.0% | 0.3 | No clear difference | | King's Pawn Game | C20 | 56,960 | 3.5% | 51.3% | 0.4 | No clear difference | | English Opening | A10 | 45,165 | 2.8% | 53.4% | 0.4 | Above | | Philidor Defense | C41 | 43,229 | 2.7% | 52.1% | 0.5 | No clear difference | | Queen's Gambit Declined | D06 | 43,053 | 2.7% | 53.4% | 0.5 | Above | | Scotch Game | C44 | 38,672 | 2.4% | 54.8% | 0.5 | Above | | Bishop's Opening | C23 | 34,549 | 2.1% | 53.4% | 0.5 | Above | | Ruy Lopez | C62 | 33,335 | 2.1% | 53.1% | 0.5 | Above | | Pirc Defense | B00 | 31,883 | 2.0% | 51.7% | 0.5 | No clear difference | | Modern Defense | B06 | 31,083 | 1.9% | 51.6% | 0.5 | No clear difference | | Indian Defense | A45 | 30,925 | 1.9% | 51.8% | 0.5 | No clear difference | | Zukertort Opening | A04 | 30,254 | 1.9% | 51.5% | 0.6 | No clear difference | | Petrov's Defense | C42 | 23,657 | 1.5% | 52.6% | 0.6 | No clear difference | | Four Knights Game | C47 | 23,090 | 1.4% | 52.2% | 0.6 | No clear difference | | Vienna Game | C25 | 22,706 | 1.4% | 53.3% | 0.6 | Above | | Van't Kruijs Opening | A00 | 21,108 | 1.3% | 50.0% | 0.7 | Below | | Englund Gambit | A40 | 20,497 | 1.3% | 50.9% | 0.7 | No clear difference | | Horwitz Defense | A40 | 19,993 | 1.2% | 52.4% | 0.7 | No clear difference | | Nimzowitsch Defense | B00 | 19,239 | 1.2% | 51.9% | 0.7 | No clear difference | | Owen Defense | B00 | 18,564 | 1.1% | 52.0% | 0.7 | No clear difference | ## Which openings do players choose at each rating? The most played opening families change with the level. Each rating band has its own page with the full table. **The three most played opening families in each rating band, 1 September 2026.** | Rating band | Games | Most played | Second | Third | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | under 1200 | 274,199 | Queen's Pawn Game | King's Pawn Game | Italian Game | | 1200 to 1599 | 583,040 | Queen's Pawn Game | Sicilian Defense | French Defense | | 1600 to 1999 | 606,149 | Sicilian Defense | Queen's Pawn Game | French Defense | | 2000 and above | 156,327 | Sicilian Defense | French Defense | Queen's Pawn Game | ## How often does White win in chess? White won 49.7% of these games, 4.3% were drawn and Black won 46.0%. White's score, wins plus half the draws, is 51.9%. **Results of all 1,619,715 games with a named opening, 1 September 2026.** | Result | Games | Share | | --- | --- | --- | | White wins | 805,379 | 49.7% | | Draws | 69,376 | 4.3% | | Black wins | 744,960 | 46.0% | ## How were these opening statistics measured? The tallies come from the Lichess open database. They cover rated Blitz, Rapid and Classical games played on 1 September 2026 (UTC) that ended by a normal result or on time, between players rated within 100 points of each other: 1,619,715 games with a named opening. Bullet games are left out because the clock decides too many of them. Each game is placed by the name of its Opening header, and a family is the part of the name before the first colon. White's score is wins plus half the draws, divided by the games. The margin is the half-width of a 95 percent interval around that score. A gap from an average counts as clear only when it is larger than the margin and at least 1 point, because a very large sample can make a tiny gap larger than its margin without making it matter. Games are banded by the lower of the two ratings, and the 100-point gap limit stops a rating window from making an opening look better than it is. An opening needs at least 1,500 games to be reported. The numbers describe one day of play at these ratings, not every game of the opening. ## Frequently asked questions **Which chess opening wins the most?** Among the 25 most played openings, White's score ranges from 50.0% to 54.8%, against 51.9% across all openings, and the table shows which gaps are larger than their margin. A score also reflects who chooses the opening, not only its quality. **What is the most popular chess opening?** The Sicilian Defense, with 163,245 games, which is 10.1% of the games with a named opening on 1 September 2026. **Where do these numbers come from?** From the Lichess open database, which Lichess publishes as CC0. This site counted the games of one day and publishes the method, the margin and the date on each page. ## Sources - [Lichess open database, standard rated games (CC0), file for September 2026](https://database.lichess.org/), read 2026-10-22 ## Related - [Chess opening statistics for players rated under 1200](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/under-1200.md) - [Chess opening statistics for players rated 1200 to 1599](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/1200-1599.md) - [Chess opening statistics for players rated 1600 to 1999](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/1600-1999.md) - [Chess opening statistics for players rated 2000 and above](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/2000-plus.md) - [Sicilian Defense win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/sicilian-defense.md) - [Queen's Pawn Game win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/queens-pawn-game.md) - [French Defense win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/french-defense.md) - [Caro-Kann Defense win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/caro-kann-defense.md) - [Scandinavian Defense win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/scandinavian-defense.md) - [Italian Game win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/italian-game.md) - [King's Pawn Game win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/kings-pawn-game.md) - [English Opening win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/english-opening.md) - [Philidor Defense win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/philidor-defense.md) - [Queen's Gambit Declined win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/queens-gambit-declined.md) - [Scotch Game win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/scotch-game.md) - [Bishop's Opening win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/bishops-opening.md) - [Ruy Lopez win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/ruy-lopez.md) - [Pirc Defense win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/pirc-defense.md) - [Modern Defense win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/modern-defense.md) - [Indian Defense win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/indian-defense.md) - [Zukertort Opening win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/zukertort-opening.md) - [Petrov's Defense win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/petrovs-defense.md) - [Four Knights Game win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/four-knights-game.md) - [Vienna Game win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/vienna-game.md) - [Englund Gambit win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/englund-gambit.md) - [Nimzowitsch Defense win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/nimzowitsch-defense.md) - [Nimzo-Larsen Attack win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/nimzo-larsen-attack.md) - [Hungarian Opening win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/hungarian-opening.md) - [Slav Defense win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/slav-defense.md) - [Benoni Defense win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/benoni-defense.md) - [Queen's Gambit Accepted win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/queens-gambit-accepted.md) - [King's Gambit Accepted win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/kings-gambit-accepted.md) - [Alekhine Defense win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/alekhine-defense.md) - [Center Game win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/center-game.md) - [King's Indian Defense win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/kings-indian-defense.md) - [Dutch Defense win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/dutch-defense.md) - [King's Gambit Declined win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/kings-gambit-declined.md) - [Rat Defense win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/rat-defense.md) - [Blackmar-Diemer Gambit win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/blackmar-diemer-gambit.md) - [Nimzo-Indian Defense win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/nimzo-indian-defense.md) - [Queen's Gambit win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/queens-gambit.md) - [London System win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/london-system.md) - [Best chess openings for beginners](https://georgelichess.com/best-chess-openings-for-beginners.md) - [Average chess rating and a good chess rating](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles.md) - [Chess terms glossary](https://georgelichess.com/glossary.md) - [Book your first lesson](https://georgelichess.com/book/first-lesson.md) Last updated 2026-10-22. ## Related - [Chess openings by rating: under 1200](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/under-1200.md) - [Chess openings by rating: 1200 to 1599](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/1200-1599.md) - [Chess openings by rating: 1600 to 1999](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/1600-1999.md) - [Chess openings by rating: 2000 and above](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/2000-plus.md) - [Sicilian Defense win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/sicilian-defense.md) - [Queen's Pawn Game win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/queens-pawn-game.md) - [French Defense win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/french-defense.md) - [Caro-Kann Defense win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/caro-kann-defense.md) - [Scandinavian Defense win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/scandinavian-defense.md) - [Italian Game win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/italian-game.md) - [King's Pawn Game win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/kings-pawn-game.md) - [English Opening win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/english-opening.md) - [Philidor Defense win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/philidor-defense.md) - [Queen's Gambit Declined win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/queens-gambit-declined.md) - [Scotch Game win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/scotch-game.md) - [Bishop's Opening win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/bishops-opening.md) - [Ruy Lopez win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/ruy-lopez.md) - [Pirc Defense win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/pirc-defense.md) - [Modern Defense win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/modern-defense.md) - [Indian Defense win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/indian-defense.md) - [Zukertort Opening win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/zukertort-opening.md) - [Petrov's Defense win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/petrovs-defense.md) - [Four Knights Game win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/four-knights-game.md) - [Vienna Game win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/vienna-game.md) - [Englund Gambit win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/englund-gambit.md) - [Nimzowitsch Defense win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/nimzowitsch-defense.md) - [Nimzo-Larsen Attack win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/nimzo-larsen-attack.md) - [Hungarian Opening win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/hungarian-opening.md) - [Slav Defense win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/slav-defense.md) - [Benoni Defense win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/benoni-defense.md) - [Queen's Gambit Accepted win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/queens-gambit-accepted.md) - [King's Gambit Accepted win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/kings-gambit-accepted.md) - [Alekhine Defense win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/alekhine-defense.md) - [Center Game win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/center-game.md) - [King's Indian Defense win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/kings-indian-defense.md) - [Dutch Defense win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/dutch-defense.md) - [King's Gambit Declined win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/kings-gambit-declined.md) - [Rat Defense win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/rat-defense.md) - [Blackmar-Diemer Gambit win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/blackmar-diemer-gambit.md) - [Nimzo-Indian Defense win rate](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/nimzo-indian-defense.md) - [Average chess rating and a good chess rating](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles.md)