Chess Openings for Black

Black's opening question is never "which opening is best" - it is "what do I play against the move that just appeared on the board". White commits first, and a repertoire for Black is an answer to 1.e4 plus an answer to 1.d4, which together cover almost every game you will ever be dealt. The four defences below answer 1.e4, in descending order of how much fight and how much theory they bring; the next two answer 1.d4; the last answers both and asks you to learn nothing at all. Every one of them is a board you play, not a line you read.

1. 1Sicilian Defence

   1. e4 c5

   BlackAggressiveHeavyIntermediate

   The answer to 1.e4 that plays for a win. 1...c5 refuses the symmetry, trades a wing pawn for a centre pawn, and leaves the two sides with entirely different pawn structures - which means somebody is going to be better, and it might as well be the player who knows the structure. The price is the largest body of theory in chess, so pick one variation and stay in it.

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2. 2Caro-Kann Defence

   1. e4 c6

   BlackSolidLightBeginner

   The most forgiving solid defence. Like the French it answers 1.e4 with a supported ...d5, but the support comes from the c-pawn, so the light-squared bishop reaches f5 before the pawn chain closes - the difference that decides which of the two most people enjoy. Fewer forcing lines than the Sicilian, fewer bad bishops than the French, and a structure that still makes sense in the endgame.

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3. 3French Defence

   1. e4 e6

   BlackSolidModerateIntermediate

   The defence that always knows its plan. 1...e6 and 2...d5 lock the centre and give Black one clear job for the whole game: attack the base of White's pawn chain with ...c5 and ...f6. In exchange the light-squared bishop starts the game behind its own pawns, and getting it out is the second job. Choose it if you would rather have a difficult plan than no plan.

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4. 4Scandinavian Defence

   1. e4 d5

   BlackTrickyLightBeginner

   The one-line answer: 1...d5, take, and recapture with the queen. Almost nothing White does changes the plan, which makes it the least memorisation of any 1.e4 defence, and the early queen sortie teaches tempo the hard and useful way. It is also where a lot of people meet their first opening trap - the page includes the ...Qxb2 greed that hands the game back.

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5. 5King's Indian Defence

   1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3

   BlackAggressiveHeavyAdvanced

   The fighting answer to 1.d4. Let White take the whole centre, fianchetto, castle, then push the f- and g-pawns at White's king while White breaks through on the queenside. Nobody draws these positions by accident. It asks for real understanding of the pawn race in return, which is why it lives at the advanced end of this list.

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6. 6Dutch Defence

   1. d4 f5

   BlackAggressiveModerateAdvanced

   The rarest of these, and the one that will surprise your opponent. 1...f5 takes the e4-square with a pawn on move one and starts the attack before White has finished developing. It also loosens the king's diagonal, and White has traps ready on move two - the page walks through the ones that mate you by move six, from the side that has to survive them.

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7. 7The Cow Opening

   1. e3 e5 2. d3 d5 3. Ne2

   Either sideTrickyLightBeginner

   The exception on this page: not an answer to anything, but the same six-move setup played whatever White does - pawns to e6 and d6, knights to e7 and d7, then out to g6 and b6. It gives up any claim to an advantage and gives back total predictability, which for a player who is tired of being caught out on move three is not nothing. Treat it as a rest stop, not a destination.

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Two openings finish a repertoire for Black: one against 1.e4 and one against 1.d4. Play the defining moves on each page here, keep the two that felt like your kind of game, and you will never again be out of book on move two.