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    ChessDream

    Chess Opening Explorer

    3,174 named openings and variations on an interactive board. Play a move to see every continuation.

    A chess opening is the named sequence of moves that begins a game and determines the pawn structure both players work with for the rest of it. This explorer covers 3,174 named openings and variations from the public-domain Lichess opening database, each with its ECO classification. Play a move on the board above and every catalogued continuation appears, labelled with the opening it leads to — so you can follow theory by exploring positions instead of memorising move orders. It is free and needs no account.

    Where to start

    Major openings

    Frequently asked questions

    What is a chess opening explorer?
    An opening explorer is an interactive board paired with a database of named openings. Playing a move shows every continuation catalogued from the resulting position, along with the opening name each one produces, so you can navigate opening theory by exploring positions rather than by memorising move orders.
    How many chess openings are there?
    This explorer covers 3,174 named openings and variations drawn from the public-domain Lichess opening database, each classified with an ECO code from A00 to E99. Many more positions occur in practice, but these are the ones that carry an established name.
    How many openings should a beginner learn?
    One opening as White and one answer to each of 1.e4 and 1.d4 as Black is enough to cover most games. Learning more before you understand the ones you already play spreads study time too thin to build real familiarity with any of them.
    Do I need to memorise opening moves to improve?
    Not at club level. Understanding the typical pawn structures and plans of your openings does more for your results than memorising long lines, because most games leave known theory within the first ten moves regardless.
    What is an ECO code?
    ECO stands for Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, a classification system that assigns every opening a code from A00 to E99. A covers flank openings, B and C the 1.e4 openings, and D and E the 1.d4 and Indian systems.

    Opening data comes from the Lichess chess-openings database, released into the public domain. 133 of the 3,174 openings have their own page.

    Opening study tools and guides