The Best 1.e4 Openings For White Below 1600

Introduction

Hello chess friends! I am GM Max Illingworth, and in this post, I will show you the best scoring lines for White after 1.e4 below the 1600 level on Lichess.

By discovering these lines, seeing why they work and playing them in your games, you will improve your results with the White pieces, through learning how to punish the most common mistakes your opponents are making in the opening.

I also have a belated Christmas gift for those of who you make it all the way to the end of the post!

How This Post Is Structured

As for how this post is structured: I have begun with the analysis chapters (Chapters 2-8) so that you can see:

- what the best openings below 1600 are;
- why they work;
- how to punish the most common mistakes your opponents are making!

After that, I've included 14 Exercises (Chapters 10-23) in the 'Test Yourself' to help you remember the key ideas and also adapt to unexpected moves by the opponent.

Enjoy the Study and please click the heart symbol to this post up the top if you find this post helpful!

The Best Sub-1600 Opening vs. 1.e4 e5 (Open Games)

You will face 1.e4 e5 in about half of your games below 1600, so it's where we should focus our preparation!

I have recommended the King's Gambit with 2.f4, as it scores the best for White (55.5% below 1600 on Lichess). The reason it's such an effective opening at lower levels is because less advanced players often struggle to deal with early attacks, and despite being a gambit, the subsequent moves are pretty systematic for White to play.

Here's my analysis of the King's Gambit, focusing on Black's most common replies below 1600:

If you have any questions about any moves in the post/Study, you can ask either in the comments thread to this post, or in the chat-room of the Study itself (by clicking the three dots and then 'View in Lichess' to access the full Study and the chat room to the left of the board).

The Best Sub-1600 Opening vs. 1.e4 c5 (Sicilian Defense)

The Sicilian Defense with 1.e4 c5 is a lot less popular below 1600 compared to the master level, only being seen in 12% of games. But it can be a bit of an overwhelming system for players to learn how to meet at first, because in the main lines with 2.Nf3 and 3.d4 (the Open Sicilian), Black has a wide range of playable systems, and it's easy to forget what system to play against each of them.

By contrast, my recommendation of the Alapin Sicilian with 2.c3 has several advantages:

- It's easy to understand: we prepare d4 to take over the centre with both pawns;
- It scores best for White against 1...c5;
- Black's most common replies below 1600 give White a pleasant advantage with simple moves.

Enjoy my analysis of how to meet Black's most common replies below 1600 Lichess here:

By the way, you'll get Exercises later in this post (or within the Study if you go there) to test your understanding and help you remember the key ideas for your own games.

The Best Sub-1600 Opening vs. 1.e4 e6 (French Defense)

The French Defense (1.e4 e6) can be a bit tricky for less experienced players to meet, as it often leads to closed positions when White later grabs space in the centre with e5.

By contrast, my recommended system of 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 - the Tarrasch Variation - leads to more open positions after the most common replies of 3...c5 and 3...dxe4 below 1600, allowing us to develop quickly and clearly understand what we're trying to achieve.

And if Black does try to close the position with 3...Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7, we get the best possible version of the closed structure, where we can build a strong pawn chain with c3 to support our centre, while their knight on d7 remains out of play.

Discover how to meet Black's most common replies to 3.Nd2 in the analysis below:

You'll only face the French in about 8% of your games, so don't try to memorize every single detail - you'll get more of a feel for how the positions play out through your own experience.

The Best Sub-1600 Opening vs. 1.e4 c6 (Caro-Kann Defense)

The Caro-Kann Defense (wih 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5) is Black's best-scoring defense to 1.e4 below 1600, and a big reason why is not just because it often catches players below 1600 by surprise, but it's also strategically very logical - Black prepares to develop their light-squared actively (to f5 or g4) and only then play ...e6, ensuring they don't have any bad pieces or obvious weaknesses.

However, my suggestion of 3.f3 - The Fantasy Variation - is a counter-surprise that thwarts this plan, and scores 52.5% for White below 1600 - a big improvement over the 48.5% score after 1...c6! It also helps that Black's most common replies land them in hot water rather quickly, as I show in my analysis:

The Caro-Kann is only played 5% of the time below 1600, so you don't need to spend a lot of time on it, but the ideas here will help you be ready for it even as you start to face more experienced opposition.

The Best Sub-1600 Opening vs. 1.e4 d5 (Scandinavian Defense)

The Scandinavian Defense (1.e4 d5) is disproportionately popular below 1600, being seen in 11% of all games (versus just 2% in the Lichess Masters database). So it's a system we should spend more time on and make sure we're ready for the different ways Black can play it.

I've recommended the main line of 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3, attacking their queen with tempo and giving us an early lead in development that we can turn into an initiative if we play our cards right. One of the more fun ideas in the analysis below is the Leonhardt Gambit with 3...Qa5 4.b4!? which scores extremely well for White (57% win rate), but we also get excellent attacking chances against Black's other tries:

It's worth noting that the moves you'll face in the Scandinavian below 1600 are usually very different to what is most played at the master level, and my analysis reflects that. You can always expand your knowledge of the main lines at master level when you start facing much stronger opponents.

The Best Sub-1600 Opening vs. 1..d6/1...g6 (Pirc Defense and Modern Defense)

The replies 1.e4 d6 and 1.e4 g6 are each only seen in 3% of all games below 1600. That's not enough to deserve a separate chapter for each move, but it also helps that they both employ a similar dark squared strategy - Black usually follows up 1.e4 d6 with the king's fianchetto 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 anyway, and the Modern can also transpose back into the Pirc when Black plays a later ...Nf6.

As a general principle, when Black doesn't occupy the centre with a pawn, we should take the centre with d4 and then play Nc3 to ensure our e4-pawn is defended. From there, we develop our queenside first with Be3/Qd2/0-0-0, setting up the queen and bishop battery for f3, Bh6 and h4-h5 with a rapid and very strong attack against Black's king when they castle short.

Discover the details in my analysis below:

Like with the Scandinavian, these are Black openings I have a bit of a soft spot for, but White gets a nice initiative against them if they know what they're doing.

The Best Sub-1600 Opening vs. Sidelines (Alekhine, Nimzowitsch, Owen's Defense etc)

To conclude the analysis section of this post, I've covered various sidelines that are seen in 2% of less of all games each. The analysis below may seem a little more detailed at first, but you'll notice that a lot of the lines feature similar systems, like the Geller Setup with e4/d4/Bd3/Nf3/0-0/c3 and overprotecting our e4-pawn against both 1...b6 and 1...a6.

The Alekhine and Nimzowitsch are the trickier systems to deal with, as they do require some precise knowledge to get an advantage as White. But the ideas presented should keep you in good stead even against more advanced opposition.

That concludes the analysis section of the post - congrats on getting through it! There was quite a bit of material here, but you showed up and did the work - and you'll be rewarded for that in your next games with 1.e4.

Test Yourself - Exercises

The last part of this repertoire features 14 Exercises to test your knowledge and understanding of the best 1.e4 openings below 1600 that we just covered.

In many cases I will try to trip you up with a different move to what I covered for Black in the analysis. This will help you to be ready for unexpected moves in your own games, so that you can adapt the ideas effectively and make them work in a different situation.

Good luck! If you need help, try using the 'hint' button or read the explanations I wrote for various alternatives that don't work quite as well as my recommendation.

To go through the Exercises, click 'Start' and then go through the subsequent exercises from there. You can see the Chapter and Exercise list to the left of the board after you click 'Start'.

Summary/Conclusion

With the Analysis and Exercises, you are now ready to play 1.e4 with confidence in your games!

You now know:

- What the best-scoring moves are for White within 1.e4 below the 1600 level;
- The key ideas that make these moves work;
- and how to punish the common mistakes your opponents make in these lines!

Good luck with 1.e4, and use the comment thread at the bottom of the post to ask any questions you have about the moves!

BONUS: Free Gift

If you liked this post, then you will LOVE the free sample chapter of my course 'Crush Sub-1800s With 1.e4', which goes deeper into the different ideas and moves, with videos from me (GM Max Illingworth). It also shows you a more advanced way to meet 1.e4 e5 that works even against more advanced players :)

You can get the free sample chapter here: [https://www.simplechessimprovement.com/offers/Lq6gDT2Y](If you liked this Study, then you will LOVE the free sample chapter of my course 'Crush Sub-1800s With 1.e4', which goes deeper into the different ideas and moves, with videos from me (GM Max Illingworth). It also shows you a more advanced way to meet 1.e4 e5 that works even against more advanced players :) You can get the free sample chapter here: https://www.simplechessimprovement.com/offers/Lq6gDT2Y)