Common mistakes
Opening mistakes at under 1000
The moves Lichess players rated under 1000 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 59,042 games by players at this level, September 2026.
Wayward Queen Attack
Learn the Wayward Queen Attack1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 · Black to move
??Most players here play
2...g6
12% of players rated under 1000 do. It drops their winning chances by about 40%, and they score 32% from here.
Why: White answers 3.Qxe5+ Qe7 4.Qxh8 Nf6 5.d3, winning a rook.
★Play instead
2...Nc6
What 56% of players rated 1000–1200 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 59%.
From 706 games at this level that reached the position.
1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Bc5 3.Bc4 · Black to move
??Most players here play
3...g6
34% of players rated under 1000 do. It drops their winning chances by about 40%, and they score 27% from here.
Why: White answers 4.Qxe5+ Qe7 5.Qxh8 Qf8 6.d4, winning a rook.
★Play instead
3...Qf6
The sound move most chosen at this level: 24% play it.
From 50 games at this level that reached the position.
1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nf6 3.Qxe5+ · Black to move
?!Most players here play
3...Qe7
25% of players rated under 1000 do. It drops their winning chances by about 12%, and they score 44% from here.
Why: the engine’s best answer is 4.Qxe7+ Bxe7 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bc4, and the position is worse for it.
★Play instead
3...Be7
What 78% of players rated 1000–1200 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 61%.
From 174 games at this level that reached the position.
1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 g6 4.Qf3 Nf6 · White to move
?Most players here play
5.Nh3
15% of players rated under 1000 do. It drops their winning chances by about 28%, and they score 33% from here.
Why: the engine’s best answer is 5...Nd4 6.Qd1 d5 7.exd5 Bg4, and the position is worse for it.
★Play instead
5.c3
What 32% of players rated 1000–1200 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 19%.
From 99 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
32% of players rated under 1000 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 22% of players rated 1000–1200 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 77%.
From 293 games at this level that reached the position.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 3.Nxe5 · Black to move
?!Most players here play
3...Qf6
27% of players rated under 1000 do. It drops their winning chances by about 13%, and they score 15% from here.
Why: the engine’s best answer is 4.d4 d6 5.Nf3 Bb6 6.c3, and the position is worse for it.
★Play instead
3...Nf6
What 14% of players rated 1000–1200 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 15%.
From 89 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
22% of players rated under 1000 do. It drops their winning chances by about 16%, and they score 37% from here.
Why: White answers 4.Nxe5 O-O 5.d4 Bb6 6.Nxf7, winning two pawns.
★Play instead
3...Nxe4
What 22% of players rated 1000–1200 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 52%.
From 324 games at this level that reached the position.
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Qf3 Nf6 · White to move
?Most players here play
4.Nh3
17% of players rated under 1000 do. It drops their winning chances by about 29%, and they score 40% from here.
Why: Black answers 4...Nd4 5.Qd1 Nxe4 6.d3 d5, winning a pawn.
★Play instead
4.c3
What 33% of players rated 1000–1200 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 31%.
From 91 games at this level that reached the position.
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nxe4 4.Nxe5 · Black to move
?Most players here play
4...Bc5
19% of players rated under 1000 do. It drops their winning chances by about 28%, and they score 63% from here.
Why: White answers 5.Bxf7+ Kf8 6.d4 Bb4+ 7.c3, winning a pawn.
★Play instead
4...d5
The sound move most chosen at this level: 21% play it.
From 62 games at this level that reached the position.
Réti Opening
Learn the Réti Opening1.Nf3 · Black to move
?!Most players here play
1...e5
12% of players rated under 1000 do. It drops their winning chances by about 11%, and they score 45% from here.
Why: White answers 2.Nxe5 d5 3.d4 Bd6 4.Bf4, winning a pawn.
★Play instead
1...d5
What 41% of players rated 1000–1200 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 54%.
From 778 games at this level that reached the position.
Scotch Game
Learn the Scotch Game1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 · Black to move
?!Most players here play
3...f6
9% of players rated under 1000 do. It drops their winning chances by about 17%, and they score 46% from here.
Why: the engine’s best answer is 4.Bc4 d6 5.a4 Nge7 6.a5, and the position is worse for it.
★Play instead
3...exd4
What 54% of players rated 1000–1200 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 43%.
From 622 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
34% of players rated under 1000 do. It drops their winning chances by about 11%, and they score 36% 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 30% of players rated 1000–1200 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 52%.
From 125 games at this level that reached the position.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 · White to move
?!Most players here play
4.Ng5
9% of players rated under 1000 do. It drops their winning chances by about 12%, and they score 35% from here.
Why: it lets 4.Nxd4 go, and 4.Nxd4 wins a pawn.
★Play instead
4.Nxd4
What 65% of players rated 1000–1200 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 54%.
From 286 games at this level that reached the position.
Queen's Pawn Opening
1.d4 e5 · White to move
?!Most players here play
2.Nf3
12% of players rated under 1000 do. It drops their winning chances by about 12%, and they score 58% from here.
Why: it lets 2.dxe5 go, and 2.dxe5 wins a pawn.
★Play instead
2.dxe5
What 65% of players rated 1000–1200 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 54%.
From 509 games at this level that reached the position.
Alekhine's Defence
Learn the Alekhine's Defence1.e4 Nf6 · White to move
?!Most players here play
2.Nf3
12% of players rated under 1000 do. It drops their winning chances by about 12%, and they score 48% from here.
Why: Black answers 2...Nxe4 3.d4 d5 4.c4 e5, winning a pawn.
★Play instead
2.e5
What 25% of players rated 1000–1200 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 58%.
From 494 games at this level that reached the position.
Centre Game
Learn the Centre Game1.e4 e5 2.d4 · Black to move
?!Most players here play
2...d5
8% of players rated under 1000 do. It drops their winning chances by about 14%, and they score 36% from here.
Why: it lets 2...exd4 go, and 2...exd4 wins a pawn.
★Play instead
2...exd4
What 50% of players rated 1000–1200 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 56%.
From 625 games at this level that reached the position.
Nimzowitsch Defence
Learn the Nimzowitsch Defence1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 e5 3.d5 · Black to move
?!Most players here play
3...Nd4
50% of players rated under 1000 do. It drops their winning chances by about 20%, and they score 51% from here.
Why: White answers 4.c3 Nc6 5.dxc6 Nf6 6.cxd7+, winning a piece.
★Play instead
3...Nce7
What 26% of players rated 1000–1200 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 46%.
From 70 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 · Black to move
?!Most players here play
4...Qe7
12% of players rated under 1000 do. It drops their winning chances by about 18%, and they score 44% from here.
Why: White answers 5.Bxf7+ Kd8 6.Bc4 Ke8 7.d3, winning a pawn.
★Play instead
4...d5
What 71% of players rated 1000–1200 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 39%.
From 279 games at this level that reached the position.
Pirc Defence
Learn the Pirc Defence1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 · White to move
?!Most players here play
3.e5
16% of players rated under 1000 do. It drops their winning chances by about 15%, and they score 43% from here.
Why: the engine’s best answer is 3...dxe5 4.dxe5 Qxd1+ 5.Kxd1 Ng4, and the position is worse for it.
★Play instead
3.Nc3
What 68% of players rated 1000–1200 choose. Players at your level who already play it score 44%.
From 140 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.