Beginners Chess Opening TIER LIST with Hikaru and Levy | Part 1

GM Hikaru Nakamura and IM Levy Rozman use @tiermaker to rank chess openings from the point of view of a beginner (800-1300). (We will rank openings for club level players later)

0:00 Intro
1:00 Accelerated Dragon
2:29 Advanced Caro-Kann
4:22 Nc3 g4 Ng2 var
4:30 Regular var
5:45 Advanced French
7:45 Alapin Sicilian
9:10 Alekhine’s Defense
10:26 Benko Gambit
11:35 Benoni
13:21 Berlin Defense
16:20 Bird’s Opening
16:55 Fool’s Mate Kindergarten Nationals Story
19:03 BongCloud
20:07 Budapest Gambit
21:13 Caro-Kann
23:13 Catalan
24:51 Closed Sicilian
26:28 Danish Gambit
30:04 Dragdorf
31:45 Dutch Defense
34:39 English
37:03 Englund Gambit
39:28 Evan’s Gambit

#gmhikaru #chess #gothamchess

[forthesect]

I was supposed to meet with my girlfriend. But I saw you uploaded. So she has to wait.

[bhsiao]

bruh poor kindergarten kid was probably traumatized for the rest of his life...

[vuxigeck]

That mating story with the bishop and queen at the kindergarten tournament was absolutely beautiful. lmfao

[copywrite]

Edit: Oh shit, they copy pasted this into the description

0:00 Intro
1:00 Accelerated Dragon
2:29 Advanced Caro-Kann
4:22 Nc3 g4 Ng2 var
4:30 Regular var
5:45 Advanced French
7:45 Alapin Sicilian
9:10 Alekhine’s Defense
10:26 Benko Gambit
11:35 Benoni
13:21 Berlin Defense
16:20 Bird’s Opening
16:55 Fool’s Mate Kindergarten Nationals Story
19:03 BongCloud
20:07 Budapest Gambit
21:13 Caro-Kann
23:13 Catalan
24:51 Closed Sicilian
26:28 Danish Gambit
30:04 Dragdorf
31:45 Dutch Defense
34:39 English
37:03 Englund Gambit
39:28 Evan’s Gambit

[daviddieffenderfer]

Everyone watching: ahh yes interesting
Everyone watching: *still tries to get scholar’s mate every game*

[cornhub]

Levy: Actually explains his thought process
Hikaru: I disagree/agree

[darandomduo]

You should include the crab opening. It's the opening everyone plays on one of their first chess games because they want those rooks out. 1. a4 2.h4

[aidanvitticore]

I don’t think Hikaru really understands chess at the beginner level like Gotham does

[Eduardo-vjly]

Legendary Openings:

Evan's Gambit: 39:30
Advanced French: 5:45
Caro-Kann: 21:13
Danish Gambit: 26:31

Unbreakable Openings:

Advanced Caro-Kann: 2:30

Edit: Lol i was doing it for myself, this is why its incomplete lol.

[hopefulbloom]

*_= OPENINGS TO CONSIDER =_*

(this list isn’t illustrative of GothamChess’ [Levy’s] full recommendations, to see his recommendations in-depth. Search for his “Favorite Openings by Rating” video and “Top 8 Best Openings” for more in-depth repertoire building resources)

*+ Legendary Openings =*

39:28 - (White) Giuoco Piano Game: Evans Gambit
5:45 - (White) Advanced French
21:13 - (Black) Caro-Kann Defence
26:28 - (White) Center Game Accepted: Danish Gambit

*+ Unbreakable Openings =*

4:22 - (White) Advanced Caro-Kann (Nc3 + g4 + Nge2)

*+ Legit Openings =*

24:51 - (White) Closed Sicillian
34:39 - (Black) Englund Gambit
7:45 - (Black) Sicillian Defence, Alapin Variation
31:45 - (Black) Dutch Defence





*_= NOT RECOMMENDED AT THIS LEVEL =_*

*+ "Really, bro" Openings =*

34:39 - (White) English
23:13 - (White) Catalan
1:00 - (Black) Sicillian Defence, Accelerated Dragon Variation
13:21 - (Black) Ruy López Opening: Berlin Defence
30:04 - (Black) Sicillian Defence, Dragdorf Variation
[Najdorf + Dragon Variations]

*+ "Tricks Only" Openings =*

20:07 - (Black) Budapest Gambit
11:35 - (Black) Benoni Defense: Modern Variation

*+ "Garbage" Openings =*

4:30 - (White) Caro-Kann Defence, Advance Variation (Regular)
10:26 - (Black) Benko's Gambit
2:29 - (Black) Caro-Kann Defence, Advance Variation (h4)
9:10 - (Black) Alekhine's Defence
16:20 - (White) Bird's Opening
19:03 - (White) King's Pawn Opening: The Bongcloud

[juansek]

I'm so beginner that i don't even know which opening is each.

[tpfrecoil]

Hikaru: *Puts Caro-Kann h4 in Unbreakable*
Also Hikaru after three seconds: Eh... probably garbage tier...

[riparoo]

Hikaru is a god on his own and all, but these Levy crossovers are actually amazing. I freaking love the pairing.

[johnk]

You're not a true Bird's player if you haven't gotten checkmated on the 3rd or 4th move.

[momatotsosrorudodi]

28:40 The sarcasm in the chat.

"Ah I see."

"Ah yes, but of course."

"Faster pls"

"Beginner BTW"

[reubenfuchs]

Just finished watching “The Queens Gambit” on netflix, and now I’m here to learn

[tcomizij]

Thank you so much for segmenting the video! I wish more YouTubers would use this feature, as it helps a lot.

Keep up the good work youtube editor guy!

[stoutlager]

I kinda like learning/playing bird's opening as a beginner exercise. Maybe moreso for adult beginners than kids though. Not because it's good. More because it quickly teaches you an important principle about opening arrangements, why most of the best ones are put together the way they are, and how things can go very wrong very fast if the opening itself has a hole. However, when you survive the opening with the bird's you're usually in good shape from then on (at beginner and even intermediate level).

[literal-tree]

this video is actually super helpful for me, a beginner who's trying to learn openings and counterplay

[JXChannel]

Evans Gambit 39:28
Advanced French 5:45
Caro-Kann 21:13
Danish Gambit 26:28