My FAVORITE Chess Openings by Rating

I get many questions about chess openings for beginners, intermediate, and advanced level players. In this video I share what openings I think work best across the rating ladder. London, Stonewall, Sicilian, Caro Kann, and many others are featured.

0:00 Intro
0:35 FOR BEGINNERS (LIKE 1100)
7:16 FOR INTERMEDIATE (LIKE 1800)
13:29 FOR ADVANCED (LIKE 1800+)

⭐️ Follow Me If You Are Amazing:

[nikk-hkpv]

I am convinced levy has a folder filled with faces of him for thumbnails

[manisolanki]

And once you become a Super GM, it's time to play the Bong Cloud.

[anrizald]

this is for me

Beginners
00:38 White --> London System
02:00 White --> Stone Wall
02:37 White --> e4 Nf6
04:34 Black --> King's Indian Setup
05:35 Black --> Scandinavian Defense
06:34 Black --> Sicilian Defense (Dragon Sicilian)


Intermediate
08:10 White --> The Vienna Gambit
08:31 White --> Vienna Copycat Variation
08:50 White --> Closed Sicilian
10:31 Black --> Highly recommended: Caro-Kann Defense
11:06 Black --> Against any but e4, The Dutch
12:26 Black --> Traxler
13:11 Black --> Stafford Gambit

Advanced
14:10 White --> The Trompowsky Attack
14:43 White --> Trompowsky Raptor Variation
15:00 White --> Catalan
15:20 White --> The English
16:20 Black --> e4 e5 (Ruy Lopez or Italian) play g6 system
17:17 Black --> trickier sicilians, not main line (Nimzowitsch, Two-Knights Sicilian)
18:05 Black --> e6 b6 setups

thats it!

[HG-bplh]

When you see that the first opening is for 1100s

*cries in 280*

[firreflame]

eginner White : London System (0:40), Stonewall (1:53), e4 principles/Fried Liver (2:37)
Beginner Black : Kings Indian (4:18), Scandinavian Defense (5:32), Sicilian Dragon (6:34)

Intermediate White : Gambits (7:23), Vienna/Vienna Gambit (8:10), Closed Sicilian (8:45), Advanced Caro-Kann (10:08)
Intermediate Black : Caro-Kann (10:28), Dutch Defense (11:04), Traxler+Sneaky stuff (12:23), Stafford Gambit (13:12)

Advanced White : Straying away from/not allowing mainline theory, applying pressure (13:43), Trompowsky (14:11), Catalan (14:59), English Opening (15:18)
Advanced Black : e4 e5 sidelines/g6 systems (16:18), Nimzowitsch/2 Knight Sicilian (17:10), e6, b6 setups (18:02)

[GLu-tbpb]

best 2700+ opening:
e4
ke2

it has a 0% loserate

[waffleisyummy]

I have never played a single game of chess, so this feels like I’ve sat down in the wrong lecture in college but am too nervous to leave so I just sit and listen

[kingscrusher]

Excellent video Gotham :) I am learning a lot from you :) I think you are becoming the major force of Youtube, and a great credit to you for your huge consistent efforts and passion. I guess you may be a fan of British Grandmaster Julian Hodgson - he won the British chess championship a few times with the Trompovsky as a key weapon of choice. I am also a fan of the Leningrad Dutch but had a heartbreaking loss with it once and didn't play it so much after. Your analogy with the reversed Closed Sicilian is encouraging. I am also a fan of the Vienna game :) We do seem to share some favorites. Cheers, K

[pescator]

"like begginers", nice it's for me

gothamchess: begginers are for 1100

me being 500 :(

[youdontknowme]

8:15 Vienna opening (intermediate)
10:37 Caro-Kann (intermediate)
15:00 the catalan (Advanced)

[slsxdpc]

this guy makes the best chess content, love how passionate he gets when talking about the vienna.

[MrYounis]

Beginner openings:





London System - 0:43

Stonewall - 1:59


Potential gambits and aggressive tricks - 3:09

(Black)
Kings Indian Defence - 4:33

Scandinavian Defence - 5:36

Dragon Sicilian Defence - 6:39



Intermediate openings:

Gambits and new theory with e4 - 7:26

Vienna - 8:12
Vienna Gambit - 8:26

Closed Sicilian Defence (if they play Sicilian) - 8:49
Smith Mora Gambit (if they play Sicilian) - 9:23
Wing Gambit (if they play Sicilian) - 9:29

London System against the KID variations - 9:43

(Black)
Caro Kann - 10:33

Dutch Defence (any move that is not e4 or g4) - 11:16

Traxler Trap - 12:33

Staffordshire Gambit - 13:16


Advanced openings:


Trampowsky - 14:13

Catalan - 15:03

English - 15:23

(Black)
Caro Kann -16:16

Bird Variation - 16:43

Tricky Sicilians - 17:16

e6 b6 setup for positional mastery and tricks - 18:06

That's it.

[atefehz]

For Beginners (00-1100) :

With White :
1 - the London system 00:58
2- the stone wall 01:58
3- kings pawn opening ( Italian + fried liver ) 02:38

With black :
1- kings Indian setup 04:34
2- the Scandinavian defence 5:36
3- the Sicilian defence dragon variation 6:37
(P.s: i think pric defence is good too)

For intermediate ( 1200-1800)

With white :
1.Danish gambit 
2.Kings gambit
3.The Vienna 8:11
4.Closed Sicilian 8:50 ( play against Sicilian )
5.The smith Morra gambit ( play against Sicilian ) 9:23
6.The wing gambit 9:30
7.Two knights (against the French)
8.advance caro kann 10:19

With black :
1- Caro kann ( against e4) 10:30
2-The Dutch defence  ( against d4 or c4 or nf3) 11:18
3-The traxler 12:28
4-stanford gamebit 13:14

For advanced level (1800+)

With white :
1. trompowsky 14:15
2. the catalan 15:00
3- the english 15:22

With black :
1. Caro kann 16:15
2- ruy lopez bird's defence 16:42
3- Sicilian Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation17:24
4- Van Geet Opening: Sicilian Two Knights Variation 17:35
5-  pin variation sicilian
6-e6 b6 setup 18:08

[HejneMiro]

12:15 "Who has the advantage? Me. Because you're watching my video." Very Finegoldesque, Levy

[xerograv]

As a 2000 rated player here are some of the openings that worked for me at different rating levels:

Unr-1200 - The Stonewall Attack for white got me many easy wins, lots of easy attacking ideas and I was always ahead on the clock because my moves are typically the same.
As black the Nimzowitch (1.Nc6) worked really well as I met 2. d4 with with 2.d5 and typically got easy development and met 2. Nf3 with f5 (the Colorado gambit) which most of my opponents didn’t know so I ended up with even material and a big center

From around 1100-1700 I started to switch to the London and it worked really well. It’s a lot more flexible than the Stonewall yet still shared some of the same attacking ideas
As black I started to play the 2 knights Sicilian. It’s tricky as in the main lines if white plays in the style of the English Attack (Be3) or classical (Be2) black is set up to play Bb4 and d5 with a good position.

1700-Now I stopped playing the London as my main weapon as it really doesn’t challenge a well prepared opponent and moved onto the Queens Gambit. Obviously it would take a lot to go into what lines I like, but typically I liked setups involving an easy f3 and e4 against the Nimzo, Kings Indian, Gruenfeld etc
As black, the Caro Kan Tarktakower variation has served me with easy plans against players who can’t really claim to use my doubled f pawns as an advantage.

Just some thoughts, cheers Levy

[alexandrebergeron]

Me : at 900, complete beginner
Also me : thinks he has big brain by only watching and playing the 1800+ openings

[SkiRedMtn]

Thank you so much for this. Starting with some solid openings has really eased my early-game anxiety about unnecessarily exposing my side to attacks. I think I’ve watched the first half of this like 20 times.

[jayfuller]

Hey levy, just wanted you to know that watching you and Hikaru has brought my rating up from a 750 to almost a 900 already and it’s only up from here. Just played a game where I used the London and ended up using the Queen and king checkmate I learned from you. Thank you sir!

[JeffPohlmeyer]

My rating is in the high 900s. I just started with these openings about 8 or 9 games ago and I've lost only once. You're exactly right; these openings set up the board very nicely. I'm not even going to over complicate it and look at the intermediate or advanced openings until I get my rating up. You've got a new subscriber out of me.

[egnite]

Gotham:- Go for the Fried Liver

Traxler Counter Attack:- Hold my *Dark-Squared Bishop*