Openings by name
The 3,865 lines in the list carry 127 opening names (the part of each name before the colon, with “Accepted” and “Declined” folded into the gambit they belong to). Seventy-four of those names live inside a single ECO code; the 40 spread over two or more codes with at least twenty lines have their own page. “Starts” is the shortest line carrying the name.
| Opening | Codes | Lines | Starts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sicilian Defense | B20–B99 | 400 | 1.e4 c5 |
| Queen’s Gambit | D02, D06–D09, D20–D32, D34–D42… | 275 | 1.d4 d5 2.c4 |
| Ruy Lopez | C60–C99 | 235 | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 |
| French Defense | C00–C19 | 211 | 1.e4 e6 |
| King’s Gambit | C30–C39 | 191 | 1.e4 e5 2.f4 |
| Italian Game | C50–C59 | 187 | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 |
| English Opening | A10–A11, A13–A39, C20 | 176 | 1.c4 |
| King’s Indian Defense | E60–E99 | 119 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 |
| Caro-Kann Defense | B10–B19 | 110 | 1.e4 c6 |
| Nimzo-Indian Defense | E20–E59 | 104 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 |
| Queen’s Pawn Game | A40–A41, A43, A45–A46, A48… | 82 | 1.d4 |
| Queen’s Indian Defense | E12–E19 | 73 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 |
| Semi-Slav Defense | D30–D31, D43–D49 | 73 | 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 |
| Dutch Defense | A80–A99 | 69 | 1.d4 f5 |
| Benoni Defense | A40, A43–A44, A56, A60–A79 | 66 | 1.d4 c5 |
| Grünfeld Defense | A56, D80–D99, E60 | 59 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 |
| Alekhine Defense | B02–B05 | 56 | 1.e4 Nf6 |
| Indian Defense | A43, A45–A52, E00, E10… | 53 | 1.d4 Nf6 |
| Scotch Game | C44–C45 | 53 | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 |
| Slav Defense | D10–D19 | 52 | 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 |
| Petrov’s Defense | C42–C43 | 50 | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 |
| Blackmar-Diemer Gambit | D00 | 49 | 1.d4 d5 2.e4 |
| Four Knights Game | C47–C50 | 49 | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 |
| Zukertort Opening | A04–A06, A08, A41 | 47 | 1.Nf3 |
| Scandinavian Defense | B01 | 45 | 1.e4 d5 |
| Philidor Defense | C41 | 44 | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 |
| Nimzowitsch Defense | B00 | 43 | 1.e4 Nc6 |
| Réti Opening | A09, A11–A12, A14 | 43 | 1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 |
| Bishop’s Opening | C23–C24, C26–C28, C43 | 41 | 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 |
| Vienna Game | C25–C29 | 41 | 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 |
| Modern Defense | A04, A40–A42, B06–B07, B27 | 39 | 1.e4 g6 |
| King’s Pawn Game | B00, B07, C20, C40… | 38 | 1.e4 |
| Pterodactyl Defense | A40, A42, B06, B27 | 33 | 1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 |
| Van Geet Opening | A00, B00–B01, C31 | 33 | 1.Nc3 |
| Catalan Opening | E00–E09 | 32 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 |
| Bird Opening | A02–A03, B21 | 28 | 1.f4 |
| Pirc Defense | B00, B07–B09 | 28 | 1.e4 d6 |
| King’s Indian Attack | A05, A07–A08 | 27 | 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 |
| Polish Opening | A00, A05 | 27 | 1.b4 |
| Tarrasch Defense | D32–D34 | 27 | 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 |
| Latvian Gambit | C40, C44 | 26 | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 |
| Neo-Grünfeld Defense | D70–D79 | 25 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 d5 |
| Benko Gambit | A57–A59 | 24 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 |
| Bogo-Indian Defense | E11 | 21 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ |
| Grob Opening | A00 | 20 | 1.g4 |
| Hungarian Opening | A00, A07 | 20 | 1.g3 |
| Center Game | C20–C22 | 19 | 1.e4 e5 2.d4 |
| Nimzo-Larsen Attack | A01, A06 | 18 | 1.b3 |
| Englund Gambit | A40 | 16 | 1.d4 e5 |
| Ponziani Opening | C44 | 16 | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 |
| Vienna Gambit | C25 | 15 | 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 |
| Old Indian Defense | A41, A53–A55 | 14 | 1.d4 d6 2.c4 |
| Rat Defense | A41, A82, B00, B06… | 11 | 1.e4 d6 2.f4 |
| Trompowsky Attack | A45 | 10 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 |
| Kádas Opening | A00 | 9 | 1.h4 |
| Danish Gambit | C21 | 8 | 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 |
| London System | A48, D02 | 8 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 |
| Owen Defense | B00 | 8 | 1.e4 b6 |
| Richter-Veresov Attack | D01 | 8 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bg5 |
| English Defense | A40 | 7 | 1.d4 b6 |
| Ware Opening | A00 | 7 | 1.a4 |
| Barnes Opening | A00, C20 | 6 | 1.f3 |
| Lion Defense | B00, B07 | 6 | 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.f3 |
| Rubinstein Opening | D05 | 6 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 c5 4.Bd3 d5 5.b3 |
| Three Knights Opening | C46 | 6 | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 |
| Torre Attack | A46, A48 | 6 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bg5 |
| Borg Defense | A40, B00 | 5 | 1.e4 g5 |
| Van’t Kruijs Opening | A00 | 5 | 1.e3 |
| Blumenfeld Countergambit | E10 | 4 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 b5 |
| Elephant Gambit | C40 | 4 | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 |
| Mieses Opening | A00 | 4 | 1.d3 |
| Mikenas Defense | A40 | 4 | 1.d4 Nc6 |
| Rapport-Jobava System | D01 | 4 | 1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bf4 |
| Sodium Attack | A00 | 4 | 1.Na3 |
| St. George Defense | B00 | 4 | 1.e4 a6 |
| Amar Opening | A00 | 3 | 1.Nh3 |
| Colle System | A04, A40 | 3 | 1.d4 g6 2.Nf3 Bg7 3.e3 c5 4.Bd3 Qa5+ |
| King’s Knight Opening | C40, C44 | 3 | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 |
| King’s Pawn Opening | C20 | 3 | 1.e4 e5 2.b3 |
| Portuguese Opening | C20 | 3 | 1.e4 e5 2.Bb5 |
| Amazon Attack | A45, D00 | 2 | 1.d4 d5 2.Qd3 |
| Anderssen’s Opening | A00 | 2 | 1.a3 |
| Carr Defense | B00 | 2 | 1.e4 h6 |
| Clemenz Opening | A00 | 2 | 1.h3 |
| English Orangutan | A15 | 2 | 1.c4 Nf6 2.b4 |
| Formation | A00 | 2 | 1.a3 e5 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.d3 Nc6 5.Nd2 Bd6 6.e3 O-O 7.h3 |
| Goldsmith Defense | B00 | 2 | 1.e4 h5 |
| Hippopotamus Defense | B00 | 2 | 1.e4 Nh6 |
| Horwitz Defense | A40 | 2 | 1.d4 e6 |
| Kangaroo Defense | A40 | 2 | 1.d4 e6 2.c4 Bb4+ |
| Marienbad System | A47 | 2 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 b6 3.g3 Bb7 4.Bg2 c5 |
| Mexican Defense | A50 | 2 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6 |
| Polish Defense | A40 | 2 | 1.d4 b5 |
| Pseudo Queen’s Indian Defense | A47 | 2 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 b6 |
| Slav Indian | A40, A50 | 2 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c6 |
| Ware Defense | B00 | 2 | 1.e4 a5 |
| Zukertort Defense | A04 | 2 | 1.Nf3 Nh6 2.d4 g6 |
| Amsterdam Attack | A00 | 1 | 1.e3 e5 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.b3 Nf6 |
| Australian Defense | A40 | 1 | 1.d4 Na6 |
| Barnes Defense | B00 | 1 | 1.e4 f6 |
| Basque Opening | A45 | 1 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.b3 |
| Bongcloud Attack | C20 | 1 | 1.e4 e5 2.Ke2 |
| Canard Opening | A45 | 1 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.f4 |
| Creepy Crawly Formation | A00 | 1 | 1.h3 d5 2.a3 e5 |
| Czech Defense | B07 | 1 | 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6 |
| Dresden Opening | C44 | 1 | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c4 Nf6 4.Nxe5 |
| Duras Gambit | B00 | 1 | 1.e4 f5 |
| Döry Defense | A46 | 1 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 Ne4 |
| East Indian Defense | A48 | 1 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 |
| French Defense, Classical, 4. Bg5 | C12 | 1 | 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 |
| Fried Fox Defense | B00 | 1 | 1.e4 f6 2.d4 Kf7 |
| Global Opening | A00 | 1 | 1.h3 e5 2.a3 |
| Gunderam Defense | C40 | 1 | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Qe7 |
| Irish Gambit | C44 | 1 | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nxe5 |
| Lasker Simul Special | A00 | 1 | 1.g3 h5 |
| Lemming Defense | B00 | 1 | 1.e4 Na6 |
| Montevideo Defense | A40 | 1 | 1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Nb8 |
| Paleface Attack | A45 | 1 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.f3 |
| Queen’s Indian Accelerated | A50 | 1 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6 |
| Queen’s Pawn, Mengarini Attack | E60 | 1 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Qc2 |
| Robatsch Defense | A41 | 1 | 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.e4 Bg4 |
| Saragossa Opening | A00 | 1 | 1.c3 |
| Valencia Opening | A00 | 1 | 1.d3 e5 2.Nd2 |
| Vulture Defense | A56 | 1 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 Ne4 |
| Wade Defense | A41 | 1 | 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Bg4 |
| Yusupov-Rubinstein System | A46 | 1 | 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 |
| Zaire Defense | A40 | 1 | 1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Nb8 3.e4 Nf6 4.e5 Ng8 |