Chess: The First Move

White always plays the first move in the game of Chess. There are a total of 20 possible moves that they can do for their first turn. The possible number of Chess games that can occur is greater than any human can calculate especially since games can go on for theoretically hundreds of moves.

But the first move sets the stage for the rest of the game. Of these moves, some of them are more popular than others. Some of them may objectively be good or bad. The purpose of this post is to go through all 20 possible moves and comment on each of them.

I will start with the most popular move and then work my way down according to how infrequent they are. The order of popularity is according to the masters database accessible from the lichess analysis board.

1. e4 · King’s Pawn Opening

Pawn to e4 or King’s Pawn opening is the most popular move in any database I have seen. I believe this to be because it immediately opens the diagonal paths from white’s queen and light squared bishop to move. Most players start with this and most of the openings begin with it. Because of this, there are many quick checkmate traps that result from it, most notably, the scholar’s mate.

1. d4 · Queen’s Pawn Opening

Moving the Queen’s pawn two squares instead of the King’s pawn is the preferred opening of Chastity White Rose. This approach to starting the game makes the statement that she doesn’t want a quick game but rather to set up a defensive position and slowly wipe out the enemy army. This is the “safe” way to play rather than the quick thrill of checkmates in less than ten moves that begin with the King’s pawn.

Openings that begin with d5 such as the Queen’s Gambit, London System, and Trompowsky Attack are very easy for beginners to learn. Also, the most popular responses by black are either d5 or Nf6. This is because while black would like to play e5, the d4 pawn would just capture it with no consequence.

1. Nf3 · Zukertort Opening

Moving the knight to f3 is the third most popular option. This is unusual because most people prefer to move a pawn and get the bishops out. By playing this move, it signals that white will probably want the knight to be on this square for plans later. The primary benefits of this is that white can see what black’s first move is before forming their plans. White still has the option to move a pawn to d4 or e4 on their second move but can wait and see what black does first.

One benefit is that black cannot move a pawn to e5 without just losing that pawn immediately. White also can transpose into the london system which includes a knight on the f3 square. Of the knight moves that a player can start with, this is probaby the best.

1. c4 · English Opening

Pawn to c4 is useful for allowing white to move their queen diagonally but without creating any weaknesses in the pawn structure. The pawn acts as a bait for black to attack but any piece that does capture it can be attacked with the bishop as soon as white moves their king’s pawn to either e3 or e4. This can easily transpose to the queen’s gambit if players decide to go that route.

1. g3 · Hungarian Opening

Pawn to g3 allows white to get their bishop moved out to g2 which brings white one step closer to castling kingside. It also allows the bishop to help capture a pawn on d5 if the game later turns into a variation of the Queen’s Gambit or London System.

1. b3 · Larsen Attack

b3 is almost exactly like g3 except on the other side of the board. Both of these moves allow players to get bishops on squares that are in line with the enemy rooks. This could lead to a loss of black’s rooks later in the game after they have forgotten where white placed their bishop.

To be continued

So far, only the first 6 of the 20 possible moves have been mentioned. These lead to the most possibilities but I will cover the others as I find more time.

Also, I have plans to include annotation symbols and a percentage chart from my own lichess games to give an idea how many games I have played with them and by extension, how much experience I have with them.

This post last updated January 5, 2025