This short guide will help you a lot with the question of which chess openings should I learn first. In this guide, you will also learn general rules about chess openings and which chess opening you should play first, and why you should play my recommended chess opening.

The quick answer is that you should learn two chess openings first, one is London System and the second is the Benko gambit. You will play the London system with white pieces and Benko Gambit with black pieces.

Here is my personal guide on Benko Gambit, which will help you to choose variations that are easy to play and you will also learn the ideas behind Benko Gambit. Check out: https://thechessforum.com/benko-gambit/.

Now let’s talk about the chess openings via question and answer.

What is the easiest opening in chess?

With white pieces, you should learn and prepare one of the systems with d4. You may prepare London System, Colle Opening or Stonewall system.

These three systems have less theory and these systems rely on ideas, for example attacking the king is the main theme in the Colle system.

With black pieces, you should play the Scandinavian Defense against e4 because it’s easy and ideas are very clear and you don’t need tons of theory to play the Scandinavian.

Against d4 I suggest the Benko Gambit for the same reason because it has less theory and if you know the idea behind the Benko gambit then you can play without memorization of the moves.

You may choose the London system, Colle System, or the Stonewall system. From the black side, you should play Scandinavian defense against e4, and against d4 you should play the Benko gambit.

Let’s learn some basic understanding of the chess openings first.

What’s the purpose of the opening?

The purpose of the chess opening means how you are going to play the opening and how you should develop your chess pieces in a way that controls the center.

The central squares of the board are very important in chess. And you should set your pawns and pieces towards the center according to your opening idea.

Why center is important in chess?

If you control the center (e4-e5,d4-d5,c4-c5,f4-f5) then your pieces will be more active, and at the same time, your opponent does not have the center and his pieces will be less effective.

Therefore you will have the dominance and you have the choice to choose the direction of the attack, and you may attack the kingside or may attack the queenside.

What to do after controlling the center?

If you control the center then your attack will be successful, whether you are attacking the king or queenside or attacking the center because you have centralized pieces which control more squares or territory in your opponent’s camp.

Conclusion

I hope I answered the question which chess openings should I learn first? if you follow my recomendation and guide you will bypass the opening stage easily.

You can find helpful articles on these openings by searching our site or by searching on google.

If you have any questions regarding studying chess openings or you want to ask which opening will suit you then you can ask in the comment section or on our questions page: https://thechessforum.com/questions/