Gukesh Dommaraju is a classically schooled player whose repertoire has broadened dramatically as he climbed to the very top. He grew up a principled 1.e4 player, then added the 1.d4 systems that carried him through his World Championship run. Here’s the tour of what he plays — and links to full guides for each opening.
Gukesh as White
1.e4 — his classical roots
Gukesh cut his teeth as an open-game player. His main weapons after 1.e4 e5 are the Ruy Lopez and the Italian Game — slow-build, classical openings where both sides develop naturally and the fight is decided by long middlegame maneuvering. That suits his patient, squeezing style perfectly. He’s also comfortable in the Scotch Game, opening the center early with 3.d4.
1.d4 — the world-title upgrade
As he reached elite level, Gukesh added 1.d4 to become less predictable — and it paid off. In the 2024 World Championship he leaned heavily on Queen’s Gambit structures and Catalan-style setups, and it was a Queen’s Gambit Declined that gave him his first classical win of the match in Game 3 (the whole story is in his best games). Having both 1.e4 and 1.d4 in his toolkit makes him much harder to prepare against.
Gukesh as Black
Against 1.e4 — the Najdorf Sicilian
Gukesh’s signature counter-attacking weapon is the Sicilian Defense, and in particular the Najdorf — one of the most principled and double-edged systems in all of chess. It gives Black active piece play and rich, calculation-heavy positions, which is right in his wheelhouse. He also mixes in solid classical 1…e5 setups, meeting White’s opening with the same patient, well-prepared approach he uses everywhere else.
Against 1.d4 — Indian defenses
When facing 1.d4, Gukesh turns to the great Indian defenses. The King’s Indian Defense and the Nimzo-Indian both appear in his games — the King’s Indian for dynamic, counter-attacking play, and the Nimzo for a more flexible, structurally sound fight over the center. These are exactly the kind of rich, strategic battlegrounds where his positional understanding shines.
How his repertoire has evolved
One of the most interesting things about Gukesh is how his openings grew with his ambitions. As a junior he was a fairly pure 1.e4 attacker, chasing open positions and direct play — the natural diet of a talented kid who loves to calculate. But climbing into the world’s elite exposes you: if opponents know you’ll always play the same first move, they can prepare deeply against you.
So Gukesh broadened. Adding 1.d4 gave him a whole second world of pawn structures to steer opponents into, and it changed the texture of his play — more slow, strategic Queen’s Gambit and Catalan positions where his patience is a weapon. By the time he reached the 2024 World Championship, he was switching between both first moves, which is exactly what you want against a well-prepared opponent: unpredictability. On the Black side he kept the sharp Najdorf for counter-attacking days while leaning on rock-solid classical and Indian systems the rest of the time. The result is a repertoire that can be quiet or sharp on demand — a big reason he’s so hard to prepare for.
Why his repertoire works
Gukesh’s opening choices reflect his personality as a player:
- Classical and sound. He favors mainstream, deeply understood openings over gimmicks — the Ruy Lopez, the Queen’s Gambit, the Najdorf, the Nimzo. These are openings you can play your whole life.
- Two first moves. Carrying both 1.e4 and 1.d4 as White doubles the preparation burden on his opponents.
- Calculation-friendly. Sharp lines like the Najdorf reward the player who calculates best — and few calculate better than Gukesh.
- Long-game character. Most of his choices lead to rich middlegames and endgames, exactly where his patient, grinding style does the most damage.
A closer look at the Najdorf
Of everything Gukesh plays, the Najdorf Sicilian is the one most worth understanding, because it captures his approach as Black. It begins 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 — that little pawn move to a6 (shown on the board above in our overview) is deceptively deep. It takes away key squares from White’s pieces and prepares Black’s own queenside expansion. The Najdorf leads to some of the richest, most heavily analyzed positions in all of chess, and it rewards exactly the qualities Gukesh has in abundance: fearless calculation, deep preparation, and the confidence to walk into complications knowing you’ve counted further than your opponent. It’s not a “safe” opening — it’s a fighting one — which is why it’s the perfect fit for a champion who plays for a win with both colors.
Try these openings yourself
Gukesh’s repertoire is a fantastic model for an improving player because it’s built on classical, principled openings rather than tricks. Good starting points:
- The Italian Game — the friendliest way into 1.e4 e5 classical play.
- The Ruy Lopez — the deep, timeless “Spanish” that top players study for life.
- The Sicilian Defense — the fighting answer to 1.e4, home of the Najdorf.
- The Queen’s Gambit — the classical 1.d4 opening at the heart of his title match.
Want to understand why he plays these? See Gukesh’s playing style, or head back to the full Gukesh Dommaraju profile.
Written and fact-checked by the Chess Lab Academy Editorial Team · Repertoire verified against Wikipedia, the World Championship 2024 record, his FIDE profile, and Chess.com, as of July 2026 · Last verified 2026-07-10 · How we verify content.