Opening mistakes by rating level
Gambits work at 800 and get refuted at 2000. Pick your level below to see every opening we teach ranked by how often opponents at that rating go wrong against it — measured from Lichess games, graded by Stockfish, with the costliest slip and the answer to it on every row. How we measure.
Lichess <1200 · rated under 1200 · Chess.com ≈<650
Top of the list: 75% of Lichess players rated under 1200 who reach the Vienna Gambit make a mistake or blunder on the lines we teach within the first 10 moves (1.2M games, a lower bound).
68 of 70 openings measured at this level →
Lichess 1200s · rated 1200–1399 · Chess.com ≈650–950
Top of the list: 71% of Lichess players rated 1200–1399 who reach the Vienna Gambit make a mistake or blunder on the lines we teach within the first 7 moves (1.5M games, a lower bound).
69 of 70 openings measured at this level →
Lichess 1400s · rated 1400–1599 · Chess.com ≈950–1250
Top of the list: 68% of Lichess players rated 1400–1599 who reach the Vienna Gambit make a mistake or blunder on the lines we teach within the first 10 moves (1.9M games, a lower bound).
69 of 70 openings measured at this level →
Lichess 1600s · rated 1600–1799 · Chess.com ≈1250–1500
Top of the list: 62% of Lichess players rated 1600–1799 who reach the Vienna Gambit make a mistake or blunder on the lines we teach within the first 10 moves (1.9M games, a lower bound).
69 of 70 openings measured at this level →
Lichess 1800s · rated 1800–1999 · Chess.com ≈1500–1750
Top of the list: 51% of Lichess players rated 1800–1999 who reach the Vienna Gambit make a mistake or blunder on the lines we teach within the first 10 moves (1.4M games, a lower bound).
69 of 70 openings measured at this level →
Lichess 2000s · rated 2000–2199 · Chess.com ≈1750–2000
Top of the list: 40% of Lichess players rated 2000–2199 who reach the King's Gambit make a mistake or blunder on the lines we teach within the first 9 moves (6.1M games, a lower bound).
70 of 70 openings measured at this level →
Lichess 2200+ · rated 2200 and up · Chess.com ≈2000+
Top of the list: 29% of Lichess players rated 2200 and up who reach the King's Gambit make a mistake or blunder on the lines we teach within the first 9 moves (1.1M games, a lower bound).
70 of 70 openings measured at this level →
Frequently asked questions
Because opponents at different levels make different mistakes. A gambit that wins a piece in a third of games under 1200 is met correctly far more often at 2000, while quieter systems keep punishing well into the higher bands. These pages rank every opening we teach by what actually happens at each level, from Lichess games, not by theory.
They are Lichess ratings (Lichess uses the Glicko-2 system; most players still say Elo). Chess.com ratings run a few hundred points lower at club level, so each page also shows the approximate Chess.com range its band corresponds to.
A reply that Stockfish, at depth 20, grades as a Mistake (?) or Blunder (??) against the engine’s best move — the same labels your game review uses. Close calls are re-graded at depth 30. Inaccuracies are not counted, and every figure is a lower bound because only graded replies can count.
The trainer ranks the same list for your own rating band and drills the lines your games actually reach.
Analyze your games free