Culture trivia
Name a chess opening
94 answers count for this culture prompt. Here is what floats on top, what sits just below the waterline, and how far down the rest go.
Floating on top
These are the answers most people give first. They count, but they barely move you: 10 points each.
- Sicilian Defence
- Ruy Lopez
- Queen's Gambit
- French Defence
- Caro-Kann Defence
- King's Indian Defence
- London System
Below the waterline
Second thoughts land here, at 25 points:
- Italian Game
- English Opening
- Scandinavian Defence
- Nimzo-Indian Defence
- Pirc Defence
- Alekhine's Defence
- Dutch Defence
- Grünfeld Defence
- King's Gambit
- Vienna Game
- Scotch Game
- Four Knights Game
- Petrov's Defence
- Catalan Opening
- Slav Defence
- Queen's Gambit Declined
- Queen's Gambit Accepted
- Evans Gambit
- Bird's Opening
- Réti Opening
- Benoni Defence
- Modern Defence
- Philidor Defence
The iceberg for “Name a chess opening”
- The Tip7 answers · 10 ptsSicilian Defence · Ruy Lopez · Queen's Gambit
- Below the Surface23 answers · 25 ptsItalian Game · English Opening · Scandinavian Defence …
- The Deep39 answers · 50 ptsHidden until you play
- The Abyss24 answers · 85 ptsHidden until you play
- Below the Iceberg1 answer · 100 ptsOne legendary answer, waiting in the game
The Deep holds 39 answers starting with A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, S, T and W. The Abyss has 24 more, and one legendary answer waits below them all.
By the numbers
- 94 answers in total, 93 of them longer than one word.
- Shortest: “Hedgehog”. Longest: “Frankenstein-Dracula Variation”.
- S, B and C are the most common first letters; together they start 28% of the answers.
- 56 answers can be typed more than one way: “Kadas Opening” counts as Desprez Opening.
Getting below the surface
- More answers begin with S than with any other letter (11). Run through it first.
- Skip Sicilian Defence, Ruy Lopez and Queen's Gambit; everybody says them.
- Myths go far beyond Zeus and Thor: minor gods and creatures score well.
Play culture trivia nowSee all 94 answers A–Z
Questions about this prompt
- What are the most common answers to “Name a chess opening”?
- Most people start with Sicilian Defence, Ruy Lopez, Queen's Gambit, French Defence and Caro-Kann Defence. In Icillion they are worth 10 points each, the least of any level.
- How many answers does Icillion accept for “Name a chess opening”?
- 94 in all: 7 on The Tip, 23 Below the Surface, 39 in The Deep, 24 in The Abyss, and a single legendary answer Below the Iceberg.
- What is the shortest answer to “Name a chess opening”?
- The shortest accepted answer is “Hedgehog” and the longest is “Frankenstein-Dracula Variation”.
- Is “Name a chess opening” an easy or a hard prompt?
- Hard. It rewards people who know the subject well. It comes up in Free play on Hard and Mixed.
More culture trivia
- Name a type of scarf
- Name a type of trousers
- Name a bank
- Name a slang word for money
- Name a magical object from a story or legend
- Name a stage musical
Something different: Name a vitamin or dietary mineral · Name an excuse for not doing your homework · Name a US state
All 188 culture prompts · Hard trivia questions · General knowledge
How deep does your knowledge go?
Seven prompts a day, twenty seconds each. Obvious answers float on the tip of the iceberg; rare ones sink all the way to the trench.
▼ Start today’s iceberg ▼