Common mistakes
Opening mistakes at 1400–1600
The moves Lichess players rated 1400–1600 get wrong most often in the first ten moves, and what players a level above them play instead.
Learn them, don’t just read them. Play your move in each position before you see the answer.
Practise these 20On each board, the red arrow is the move most players at this level get wrong, and the green arrow is the move to play instead. Grouped by opening, the most costly first. From 133,019 games by players at this level, September 2026.
Scotch Game
Learn the Scotch Game1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 · White to move
?!Most players here play
4.Ng5
10% of players rated 1400–1600 do. It drops their winning chances by about 12%, and they score 43% from here.
Why: it lets 4.Nxd4 go, and 4.Nxd4 wins a pawn.
★Play instead
4.Nxd4
What 58% of players rated 1600–1800 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 55%.
From 1,651 games at this level that reached the position.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nxd4 5.Qxd4 · Black to move
?!Most players here play
5...Nf6
23% of players rated 1400–1600 do. It drops their winning chances by about 11%, and they score 41% from here.
Why: the engine’s best answer is 6.e5 c5 7.Qe3 Nd5 8.Qe4, and the position is worse for it.
★Play instead
5...d6
What 39% of players rated 1600–1800 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 44%.
From 441 games at this level that reached the position.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.e5 · Black to move
?Most players here play
5...Qe7
19% of players rated 1400–1600 do. It drops their winning chances by about 23%, and they score 29% from here.
Why: the engine’s best answer is 6.O-O Ng4 7.Bf4 d6 8.exd6, and the position is worse for it.
★Play instead
5...d5
What 54% of players rated 1600–1800 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 48%.
From 89 games at this level that reached the position.
Petrov's Defence
Learn the Petrov's Defence1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 · Black to move
?!Most players here play
3...Nc6
41% of players rated 1400–1600 do. It drops their winning chances by about 11%, and they score 51% from here.
Why: the engine’s best answer is 4.Nxc6 dxc6 5.d3 Bc5 6.Be2, and the position is worse for it.
★Play instead
3...d6
What 31% of players rated 1600–1800 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 47%.
From 371 games at this level that reached the position.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nxc6 dxc6 5.Nc3 Bc5 · White to move
?Most players here play
6.Bc4
24% of players rated 1400–1600 do. It drops their winning chances by about 23%, and they score 13% from here.
Why: the engine’s best answer is 6...Ng4 7.Qf3 Ne5 8.Qe2 Qh4, and the position is worse for it.
★Play instead
6.h3
What 30% of players rated 1600–1800 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 50%.
From 62 games at this level that reached the position.
King's Pawn Opening
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 · White to move
?!Most players here play
3.Bc4
39% of players rated 1400–1600 do. It drops their winning chances by about 14%, and they score 66% from here.
Why: it lets 3.Nxe5 go, and 3.Nxe5 wins a pawn.
★Play instead
3.Nxe5
What 20% of players rated 1600–1800 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 64%.
From 268 games at this level that reached the position.
Queen's Pawn Opening
1.d4 e5 · White to move
?!Most players here play
2.d5
9% of players rated 1400–1600 do. It drops their winning chances by about 10%, and they score 51% from here.
Why: it lets 2.dxe5 go, and 2.dxe5 wins a pawn.
★Play instead
2.dxe5
What 73% of players rated 1600–1800 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 54%.
From 1,178 games at this level that reached the position.
1.d4 e5 2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Nf3 Qe7 4.Bf4 Qb4+ 5.Bd2 Qxb2 · White to move
??Most players here play
6.Bc3
14% of players rated 1400–1600 do. It drops their winning chances by about 49%, and they score 9% from here.
Why: Black answers 6...Bb4 7.Bd2 Qxa1 8.c3 Be7, winning a rook.
★Play instead
6.Nc3
What 87% of players rated 1600–1800 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 56%.
From 81 games at this level that reached the position.
Bishop's Opening
Learn the Bishop's Opening1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Nf3 · Black to move
?!Most players here play
3...Bc5
21% of players rated 1400–1600 do. It drops their winning chances by about 16%, and they score 32% from here.
Why: White answers 4.Nxe5 O-O 5.d4 Bb6 6.Nxf7, winning two pawns.
★Play instead
3...Nxe4
What 29% of players rated 1600–1800 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 54%.
From 291 games at this level that reached the position.
Vienna Game
Learn the Vienna Game1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 · Black to move
?!Most players here play
3...Nc6
18% of players rated 1400–1600 do. It drops their winning chances by about 19%, and they score 49% from here.
Why: the engine’s best answer is 4.fxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.e5, and the position is worse for it.
★Play instead
3...d5
What 24% of players rated 1600–1800 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 56%.
From 221 games at this level that reached the position.
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 exf4 4.e5 · Black to move
?!Most players here play
4...Qe7
37% of players rated 1400–1600 do. It drops their winning chances by about 15%, and they score 23% from here.
Why: White answers 5.Qe2 Ng8 6.d4 d5 7.Nxd5, winning a pawn.
★Play instead
4...Ng8
What 79% of players rated 1600–1800 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 26%.
From 75 games at this level that reached the position.
Two Knights Defence
Learn the Two Knights Defence1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 · White to move
?!Most players here play
8.Ba4
38% of players rated 1400–1600 do. It drops their winning chances by about 14%, and they score 41% from here.
Why: the engine’s best answer is 8...h6 9.Nf3 e4 10.Qe2 Bd6, and the position is worse for it.
★Play instead
8.Bd3
What 32% of players rated 1600–1800 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 57%.
From 120 games at this level that reached the position.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 · White to move
?Most players here play
6.Qf3
17% of players rated 1400–1600 do. It drops their winning chances by about 21%, and they score 60% from here.
Why: the engine’s best answer is 6...Qxg5 7.Bxd5 Nd4 8.Qxf7+ Kd8, and the position is worse for it.
★Play instead
6.Nxf7
What 72% of players rated 1600–1800 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 71%.
From 120 games at this level that reached the position.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nxe4 · White to move
?!Most players here play
5.Bxf7+
20% of players rated 1400–1600 do. It drops their winning chances by about 14%, and they score 38% from here.
Why: it lets 5.Nxe4 go, and 5.Nxe4 wins a pawn.
★Play instead
5.Nxe4
What 61% of players rated 1600–1800 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 34%.
From 121 games at this level that reached the position.
Italian Game
Learn the Italian Game1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 · White to move
?!Most players here play
4.Nxe5
21% of players rated 1400–1600 do. It drops their winning chances by about 14%, and they score 20% from here.
Why: Black answers 4...Qg5 5.Bxf7+ Kd8 6.O-O Qxe5, winning a pawn.
★Play instead
4.Nxd4
What 50% of players rated 1600–1800 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 54%.
From 132 games at this level that reached the position.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4 exd4 5.c3 Nf6 6.cxd4 · Black to move
?Most players here play
6...Bb6
16% of players rated 1400–1600 do. It drops their winning chances by about 21%, and they score 44% from here.
Why: the engine’s best answer is 7.e5 Ne4 8.Bd5 Ba5+ 9.Kf1, and the position is worse for it.
★Play instead
6...Bb4+
What 91% of players rated 1600–1800 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 46%.
From 110 games at this level that reached the position.
Other openings
1.b4 e5 2.Bb2 · Black to move
?!Most players here play
2...Nc6
24% of players rated 1400–1600 do. It drops their winning chances by about 11%, and they score 40% from here.
Why: White answers 3.b5 Na5 4.Bxe5 c5 5.e3, winning a pawn.
★Play instead
2...d6
What 44% of players rated 1600–1800 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 57%.
From 142 games at this level that reached the position.
Sicilian Defence
Learn the Sicilian Defence1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 · Black to move
?!Most players here play
6...e6
21% of players rated 1400–1600 do. It drops their winning chances by about 20%, and they score 22% from here.
Why: the engine’s best answer is 7.Ndb5 Kf8 8.Nd6 Nf6 9.Qd2, and the position is worse for it.
★Play instead
6...Nf6
What 53% of players rated 1600–1800 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 53%.
From 85 games at this level that reached the position.
Four Knights Game
Learn the Four Knights Game1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Nxd4 6.Qxd4 · Black to move
?!Most players here play
6...Be7
19% of players rated 1400–1600 do. It drops their winning chances by about 16%, and they score 39% from here.
Why: White answers 7.e5 O-O 8.exf6 Bxf6 9.Qd3, winning two pawns.
★Play instead
6...d6
What 51% of players rated 1600–1800 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 50%.
From 114 games at this level that reached the position.
How this was measured
The games are the start of the Lichess open database for September 2026: the first 1500 MB of the file, 4,596,934 rated games. Only the 367,730 that Lichess had already analysed with Stockfish, played at blitz speed or slower, are counted (blitz 210,831, rapid 148,158, classical 8,741). Bullet is left out: its openings are played on reflex.
Each player is placed by their own Lichess rating at the time of the game. Lichess ratings run higher than chess.com’s, so a 1200 here is a weaker player than a 1200 there. Only the first 10 moves of each game are looked at: after that, positions almost never repeat across games.
A move is listed as a mistake when it gives away at least 10 points of winning chance on average, the point at which the game review starts to call a move an inaccuracy, and a position needs at least 40 games at that rating before it is reported. The move recommended instead must give away no more than 5 points, and is the one most often chosen by the next rating band up, so a 1100 is shown what a 1300 plays rather than a grandmaster’s preparation. At the top band it is the band’s own favourite.
“Score” is the average result of the player who made the move: a win counts 1, a draw a half. It is affected by everything that happened later in the game, so read it as a hint, not a verdict.