The Essential List of Chess Openings for Every Player

Here is a chart with some common chess openings, their approximate popularity on a scale of 1-10 (1 being the least popular and 10 being the most popular), famous chess players who have used the openings, and the person credited with the creation of the opening:

Opening	Popularity (1-10)	Famous Players	Inventor
Ruy Lopez	7	Bobby Fischer	Ruy López de Segura
Sicilian Defense	8	Bobby Fischer	Unknown
French Defense	6	Garry Kasparov	Philidor Family
Dutch Defense	5	Magnus Carlsen	Ludwig Bledow
Nimzo-Indian	7	Viswanathan Anand	Aron Nimzowitsch
Grunfeld Defense	7	Vladimir Kramnik	Ernst Grunfeld
King’s Indian Defense	8	Bobby Fischer	Geza Maroczy
Queen’s Gambit	7	Garry Kasparov	Unknown
Alekhine’s Defense	5	Alexander Alekhine	Alexander Alekhine
Petroff Defense	6	Fabiano Caruana	Heinrich Petroff

Opening	Popularity (1-10)	Famous Players	Inventor
Reti Opening	4	Akiba Rubinstein	Richard Réti
King’s Gambit	3	Paul Morphy	Unknown
Sicilian Defense, Kan Variation	6	Bobby Fischer	Isaac Boleslavski
Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation	8	Bobby Fischer	Miguel Najdorf
Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation	7	Bobby Fischer	Unknown
Sicilian Defense, Paulsen Variation	6	Bobby Fischer	Louis Paulsen
Sicilian Defense, Scheveningen Variation	7	Bobby Fischer	Szymon Winawer
Sicilian Defense, Taimanov Variation	6	Bobby Fischer	Mark Taimanov
Sicilian Defense, Velimirovic Attack	7	Bobby Fischer	Predrag Velimirovic
Sicilian Defense, Closed Variation	7	Bobby Fischer	Unknown
Sicilian Defense, Open Variation	6	Bobby Fischer	Unknown
Sicilian Defense, Sveshnikov Variation	6	Bobby Fischer	Evgeny Sveshnikov
Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation, Poisoned Pawn	7	Bobby Fischer	Miguel Najdorf
Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation, Classical	6	Bobby Fischer	Miguel Najdorf
Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack	6	Bobby Fischer	Unknown
Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation, Levenfish Variation	5	Bobby Fischer	Grigory Levenfish
Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation, Classical	5	Bobby Fischer	Unknown
Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation, Modern	6	Bobby Fischer	Unknown
Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation, Hyper-Accelerated Dragon	6	Bobby Fischer	Unknown
Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation, Maroczy Bind	5	Bobby Fischer	Geza Maroczy
Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation, Soltis Variation	5	Bobby Fischer	Andrew Soltis
Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation, O’Kelly Variation	5	Bobby Fischer	Albrecht O’Kelly
Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation, Kavalek Variation	5	Bobby Fischer	Lubomir Kavalek
Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation, Robatsch Defense	5	Bobby Fischer	Karl Robatsch
Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation, Accelerated Dragon	6	Bobby Fischer	Unknown
Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation, Tal Variation	5	Bobby Fischer	Mikhail Tal
Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack	5	Bobby Fischer	Unknown