OPENING EXPLORER
Explore your openingswith a coach
Stop memorizing thousands of moves blindly. Play the opening you want: each candidate move shows its idea, its evaluation and, when the data exists, how often it is played, and the opponent answers like players at your level.
Opening guides
Six openings, explained move by move
Plans, main variations and the mistakes players actually make. Free to read, no account.
D06-D69All Levels
Queen's Gambit
1.d4 d5 2.c4
Learn the opening that has dominated chess for over a century - from beginner fundamentals to grandmaster-level strategies
Read the guide →B20-B99Intermediate to Advanced
Sicilian Defense
1.e4 c5
Master one of the most combative and popular chess openings - learn why champions choose the Sicilian to fight for victory with Black
Read the guide →C50-C54Beginner to Intermediate
Italian Game
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4
Learn one of chess's oldest and most reliable opening systems.
Read the guide →D00Beginner Friendly
London System
1.d4 d5 2.Bf4
Learn one of modern chess's most reliable and flexible opening systems.
Read the guide →C60-C99Intermediate
Ruy Lopez
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5
Learn the most classical and enduring chess opening, trusted by world champions for over 500 years
Read the guide →B10-B19Intermediate
Caro-Kann Defense
1.e4 c6
Learn the rock-solid chess defense that has earned World Champions countless victories with Black
Read the guide →Your level, your opponents
Players at your level don't play the book
Same position, two rating bands, opposite habits. A repertoire built for your band prepares you for the moves you will actually meet.
After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6, White's choice by level
Players rated 1200–1399117,244,763 games
- Bc442.0%
- Bb520.7%
- d416.1%
Players rated 2500+2,154,627 games
- Bb550.0%
- Bc426.9%
- d412.4%
At 1200–1399 the Italian (Bc4) is twice as common as the Ruy Lopez (Bb5); at 2500+ it is the other way round.
Lichess games 2013–2025, grouped by rating band.
How it works
How the explorer works
Everything below is on screen in the app, at every move.
Choose your side and your opening
Play White or Black, from move one or straight from the opening you want to study: each guide on this site opens it in the explorer.
Each candidate move, explained
Every move to explore comes with its idea and its Stockfish evaluation. When the data exists, its frequency in the game database is shown; Maia estimates are labelled separately.
An opponent who plays like yours
By default the opponent picks its most likely reply at your level, so you meet the lines you will actually face.
Ask the coach
“What are the options?”, “Compare the ideas”, “Why this move?”: type your question or ask it out loud.
Ask the coach
Stuck on a move? Ask why.
Next to the board, the coach answers in plain words: what the options are, how the ideas compare, why a move is played.
- Suggested questions to start from
- Voice conversation: 2 minutes free, no account
- Answers built on Stockfish and real games
- The moves it talks about drawn on the board
AI-POWERED
Move ideas, informed by real games
Compare the idea and the evaluation of the candidate moves. When the data exists, their frequency is shown; Maia estimates are labelled separately.
e4
The move e4 is the most popular and ambitious way to start the game, immediately placing a pawn in the center to control d5 and f5. This facilitates rapid development by opening diagonals for both the bishop and queen.
You don't just memorize moves: you understand why they work, with real-game statistics wherever they exist.
Ready to explore your openings?
Start from move one or from the opening you play, and ask the coach along the way. Coach answers depend on your available credits.
Explore openings with the coachFree to start · No credit card required