Starting a chess game on the right foot can make a world of difference at any level of play.
Whether it’s a cool trap or just a comfortable position you’re familiar with, the mere fact you don’t have to waste valuable brainpower (and clock time) on the first few moves can provide a significant edge, and also greatly change the way games unfold.
Some positions are simply more fun than others. While their beauty is in the eye of the beholder, these are exciting chess openings that are definitely worth trying out as part of your 2024 chess adventures. If you’re looking for some spice without resorting to hope chess and full-on dirty tricks, you’re a chess player after my own heart—and I’ve got you covered heading into the next year.
I’ve collated three openings for the White side and three for Black, and while the latter will need a bit more cooperation on the part of your opponents, you can bet your bottom dollar that opportunities will eventually come for you to try all of them if you are perseverant enough.
Chess openings to try with White
The Vienna Gambit (1. e4 2. Nc3 3. f4)
Yeah, GothamChess is right. The Vienna Gambit offers immediate fireworks and exciting action. Sacrificing a pawn as early as move three, right next to your king, no less: It shows that you like to live dangerously, you enjoy taking the bull by the horns, and you are the sexiest player in the room. It also will lead you to many nice positions, even against fairly high-level players who know how to play out the main line.
That said, I’m not keen on pursuing the gambit line against the boring copycats who play e5 and Nc6. Physical violence against them is not a viable option, and it’s too late to play 1. d4 at this point, but you can still do some funky things in the Vienna Game after Bb5 or Ne2 if you’re looking to rock the boat. Or you can play g3, Bg2, and play a boring, normal game of chess. But who wants to do that in 2024?
The Smith-Morra Gambit (1. e4 c5 2. d5 cxd4 3. c3)
The fun thing about the Sicilian Defense is how terrifying it is to amateur players, and how easily things can go wrong on the Black side if they’re not properly prepared for the potential complications, as it is one of the more complex and challenging tactical openings to learn and play in chess.
Well, how about immediately testing their mettle with what just happens to be one of the most fun lines, sacrificing a pawn for immediate initiative and an explosive continuation? The Smith-Morra (or Morra-Smith) Gambit will offer you a clear and aggressive game plan from the early moments of play, putting your opponent on the back foot for an extensive period of time.
Your opponent’s too scared to grab the freebie pawn? No matter: The positions will often transpose into the Alapin, another fine and fun opening that actually stays proud atop the shortlist for this collection of openings to try.
The Nimzo-Larsen Attack (1. b3)
If you like raised eyebrows and opening prep books going up in flames on move one, then the Nimzo-Larsen is for you. At the low, low cost of some center space and initiative, you can get yourself a monstrous black-squared bishop as early as move two while maintaining a lot of flexibility in how you’re looking to develop across the opening.
Better still, you will likely have a large advantage in terms of prep over your opponent, and while they will immediately know to strike in the center, you can easily out-prepare them, making it easier to outwit them later down the line. But let’s be honest: Calling it an attack is more a case of excellent marketing than an accurate description.
Chess openings to try with Black
Alekhine Defense (1. e4 Nf6)
The Alekhine gets a bad rap. Much like the King’s Indian, that pesky plus-one on the evaluation bar early on makes it seem like a very poor choice for Black to start out the game. But the situation rarely ends up being as bad as the optimal computer line suggests, and there is a reason why you will still find the occasional grandmaster game in the opening, even in the modern era: It is a perfectly fine choice if you’re looking for something offbeat.
It is a bit of a surprise weapon, and Black will have a fairly straightforward time with the next few moves as the knight hops around and White decides on the contours of play. In essence, this opening relies on your opponent to overextend and leave tactical opportunities behind to exploit (I will show one of my favorites below). And while I would caution against making it your sole choice, it immediately conjures a treacherous pathway for White, and that supposedly big computer advantage can become very fleeting at a moment’s notice.
Mexican Defense (1. d4 Nc6)
While we’re on the subject of hopping around with your horses, the Mexican Defense is another one of these interesting choices, and it is almost the perfect tool to get a 1.d4 player out of their comfort zone.
While they can steer the game to a bog-standard Queen’s Indian position (or a Four Knights-esque abomination) if they take a conservative approach, things can get very sharp and very uncomfortable quite quickly if they become too eager to poke at your happily hopping knights.
Modern Defense (1. – g6, 2. – Bg7)
The Modern Defense is advertised as an opening where you don’t need to learn any theory. While I wouldn’t go that far, it is true that it is a fairly easy line to just pick up and play without any previous study, and it is an option against e4 and d4 alike.
You immediately get a nice little fianchettoed bishop, albeit at the cost of the e4 and d4 squares. But if White doesn’t support those center pawns properly, they will very quickly regret letting you take the hypermodern approach and challenge those key postings from the side. Like the Pirc, you get to keep pieces on the board and eventually turn things into a double-edged affair. What more can you ask for in your chess games in 2024?
