Why does this matter?

Understanding which moves are popular at different rating levels can guide your study. If you're a 1200-rated player, knowing that stronger players overwhelmingly prefer certain moves can help you focus on the openings that will serve you well as you improve. These charts show real data from millions of Lichess games.

Click any move board to show/hide its line on the chart.

Starting position

First Move (White)

What does White play on move 1?

d4 rises sharply from 20% to 35% as players improve. e4 drops from 66% at beginner level to 45% at 2500.

e4 decreases from 65.8% at 400 to 44.6% at 2500

d4 increases from 20.2% at 400 to 34.5% at 2500

Nf3 increases from 2.7% at 400 to 10.4% at 2500

1.e4

Response to 1.e4 King's Pawn Game

How does Black respond to 1.e4?

c5 overtakes e5 around 2000 rating. e5 drops from 63% at beginner level to 19% at 2500.

e5 decreases from 62.5% at 400 to 19.4% at 2500

c5 increases from 5.0% at 400 to 38.1% at 2500

e6 increases from 5.7% at 400 to 11.9% at 2500

c5 overtakes e5 at 2000

1.e4 e5

White vs 1.e4 e5 Open Game

White's second move against 1...e5

Nf3 dominates at all levels and becomes even more popular at higher ratings (52% → 83%). Qh5 drops from 10% at beginner level to 0% at 2500.

Nf3 increases from 51.7% at 400 to 83.1% at 2500

Bc4 decreases from 11.6% at 400 to 2.8% at 2500

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3

After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 King's Knight Opening

Black's second move in the Open Game

Nc6 dominates at all levels and becomes even more popular at higher ratings (50% → 81%).

Nc6 increases from 50.4% at 400 to 81.4% at 2500

Nf6 decreases from 17.2% at 400 to 12.3% at 2500

d6 decreases from 11.6% at 400 to 3.4% at 2500

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6

After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 Open Game: 2...Nc6

White's third move: Italian, Ruy Lopez, or Scotch?

Bb5 rises sharply from 14% to 46% as players improve. Nc3 drops from 24% at beginner level to 11% at 2500.

Bb5 increases from 13.6% at 400 to 46.0% at 2500

Bc4 decreases from 36.3% at 400 to 29.2% at 2500

Nc3 decreases from 24.2% at 400 to 10.7% at 2500

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4

Italian: After 3.Bc4 Italian Game

Black's reply to the Italian

Bc5 overtakes Nf6 around 1400 rating. h6 is common at beginner level (9%) but nearly vanishes at higher ratings.

Nf6 increases from 40.1% at 400 to 47.7% at 2500

Bc5 increases from 22.5% at 400 to 46.0% at 2500

h6 decreases from 8.7% at 400 to 0.0% at 2500

Bc5 overtakes Nf6 at 1400

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5

Italian: After 3.Bc4 Bc5 Giuoco Piano

White's fourth move in the Giuoco Piano

c3 rises sharply from 15% to 48% as players improve. Nc3 drops from 14% at beginner level to 2% at 2500. Ng5 is common at beginner level (10%) but nearly vanishes at higher ratings.

c3 increases from 14.9% at 400 to 48.3% at 2500

d3 decreases from 25.3% at 400 to 21.3% at 2500

O-O decreases from 22.4% at 400 to 18.6% at 2500

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5

Ruy Lopez: After 3.Bb5 Ruy Lopez

Black's reply to the Ruy Lopez

a6 rises sharply from 26% to 65% as players improve. Nf6 drops from 30% at beginner level to 20% at 2500. d6 is common at beginner level (9%) but nearly vanishes at higher ratings.

a6 increases from 26.3% at 400 to 64.8% at 2500

Nf6 decreases from 30.3% at 400 to 20.2% at 2500

d6 decreases from 9.4% at 400 to 0.7% at 2500

Position: Ruy Lopez: After 3...a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O

Ruy Lopez: After 3...a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Ruy Lopez: Closed

Black's key decision in the Ruy Lopez mainline

Be7 rises sharply from 5% to 56% as players improve. Nxe4 drops from 27% at beginner level to 9% at 2500. Bc5 drops from 19% at beginner level to 5% at 2500.

Be7 increases from 4.8% at 400 to 55.9% at 2500

b5 decreases from 31.6% at 400 to 27.1% at 2500

Nxe4 decreases from 26.8% at 400 to 9.0% at 2500

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6

Petrov: After 2...Nf6 Petrov Defense

White's third move against the Petrov Defense

Nxe5 rises sharply from 29% to 51% as players improve. d4 rises sharply from 6% to 17% as players improve. Bc4 drops from 18% at beginner level to 3% at 2500.