The chess opening meta, by rating band

Which openings players at your rating actually play, and how often those picks win. Every number on this site comes straight from real Lichess games.

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Get a real, personalized read on your own games, or jump to openings by rating band ↓ if you’d rather browse first.

1400-1600 Scotch Game 55.0% for white, 3,668 games
1600-1800 Scotch Game 54.6% for white, 3,538 games
1800-2000 Scotch Game 55.2% for white, 2,117 games
2000+ Queen’s Gambit 53.3% for white, 4,980 games

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Openings behave differently at every rating. Pick your band - everything below is filtered to real games at that level.

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Drill it: play the move your rating band plays

Italian Game drill

Pick the move, see instantly whether it is the move players at your rating actually make, and what that move scores.

Openings by real win rate

12 openings, ranked by what they actually score in real games at each rating band - see all openings →

Italian Game

White/draw/black at 1600-1800: 49.2% / 3.6% / 47.2% 49.2% / 3.6% / 47.2%

Scores 51.0% for white at 1600-1800 (6,665 games)Score for white: 95 percent confidence interval 49.8 to 52.2 percent, 6,665 games.

Ruy Lopez

White/draw/black at 1600-1800: 50.7% / 3.8% / 45.5% 50.7% / 3.8% / 45.5%

Scores 52.6% for white at 1600-1800 (2,941 games)Score for white: 95 percent confidence interval 50.8 to 54.4 percent, 2,941 games.

Scotch Game

White/draw/black at 1600-1800: 52.1% / 4.9% / 43.0% 52.1% / 4.9% / 43.0%

Scores 54.6% for white at 1600-1800 (3,538 games)Score for white: 95 percent confidence interval 53.0 to 56.2 percent, 3,538 games.

Sicilian Defense

White/draw/black at 1600-1800: 47.9% / 3.9% / 48.2% 47.9% / 3.9% / 48.2%

Scores 50.1% for black at 1600-1800 (19,794 games)Score for black: 95 percent confidence interval 49.4 to 50.8 percent, 19,794 games.

French Defense

White/draw/black at 1600-1800: 47.9% / 4.2% / 48.0% 47.9% / 4.2% / 48.0%

Scores 50.0% for black at 1600-1800 (11,261 games)Score for black: 95 percent confidence interval 49.1 to 50.9 percent, 11,261 games.

Caro-Kann Defense

White/draw/black at 1600-1800: 48.2% / 4.2% / 47.7% 48.2% / 4.2% / 47.7%

Scores 49.8% for black at 1600-1800 (9,647 games)Score for black: 95 percent confidence interval 48.8 to 50.8 percent, 9,647 games.