The Top 5 Most Underrated Chess Openings!

the icelandic gambit is not good for black if white knows how to play it

Openings go in and out of popularity, but I feel that some of them are underutilized (especially over the board at club level) and need to be played more. Here are my top 5 choices of such openings.

5. Budapest Gambit

I believe that this is a decent opening at club level. Even if White knows the theory or manages to hang on to his extra pawn, Black generally gets good play. The only reason it's only number 5 is that I find it quite drawish if White knows his stuff.
++ It's certainly an interesting opening, but it seems like only a slightly better Englund Gambit. Perhaps some players wouldn't know how to play the resulting imbalance, but I would hardly recommend it as more than a novelty, to be played on rare occasion.

4. Alekhine Defence

This is another uncommon opening where most club players that I've faced don't know much theory about it after the first few moves.
++ This is my second most played response against 1. e4. Most players around my ELO band (1500-1550) don't know any of the theory, and the ones that know even a little bit of theory don't know it as well as I do. Even if they did, the variations seem surprisingly even given how little space Black has. As Black I prefer the Modern Mainline (Panov, Alekhine, and Flohr), Four Pawns Mainline Tartakower, and Four Pawns Korchnoi. I'm perfectly happy to play the Krejcik Variation or the Scandinavian Variation. As White I play the Four Pawns Attack, again I'm most versed in the Korchnoi and Mainline Tartakower, so that I have a way to play against a variation in which Black castles long and a variation in which Black castles short. It's definitely a good weapon against traditional players and players who play almost exclusively 1. e4, so long as you're willing to play a hypermodern Indian Game-esque opening.

3. Dunst Opening

Rarely played, but extremely sound. I've posted my preferred lines against the two most common replies that I see.
++ It seems reasonable. I've never seen it played, but even so, these lines don't look like the "correct" moves for Black. The Dunst seems interesting, I might try it out.

2. Icelandic Gambit

An extremely fun gambit to play, and can be very dangerous for White if he doesn't know what he is doing. A must for attacking maniacs.
++ 3. c4 against the Modern Scandinavian is not the way to play the opening. The Icelandic and Scandinavian Gambits are both excellent ways to deal with the move, and I would recommend both to attacking players. If you're a Scandinavian player, you already fit these qualifications, and the hardest part about playing the Icelandic Gambit will be finding someone who plays 3. c4 and not 3. d4 Nxd5 4. c4

1. Czech Pirc

An extremely solid and reliable way to open against 1. e4. Both d6 and c6 can be played in either order, so it can be transposed into from 1. d4 openings as well.
++ This is not the way to play the Pirc. Even if White doesn't play 4. f4, Black has closed off the c6 square for the knight and has wasted a tempo if a c5 pawn break would ever be beneficial. If White does play 4. f4, Black is suddenly in the unfortunate position of playing a worse Pirc: Austrian Attack. I wouldn't recommend the Czech Pirc. If you don't want to play Pirc Mainline, the Lion Defense is a much more interesting, solid, and underused opening than the Czech Pirc.

What do you think of this list?
++ All in all, quite solid. I'm happy to see the Alekhine's on this list, the Dunst seems quite interesting, the Icelandic Gambit is a very solid response to a 3. c4 Modern Scandinavian, and despite my objections with the Budapest and the Czech Pirc, they are not bad as novelties.

My top 5 most underrated is not necessarily put in the right order :

5. Four Knights Opening 

The Four Knights Opening is decent, albeit incredibly drawish, as even the Four Knights Scotch Accepted hardly introduces any imbalance into the position, so the only advantage White has is the starting tempo. I believe the following is your recommendation?

The first thing to note is that if Black plays this correctly, c4 should prove incorrect as it allows Black to gain a protected passed pawn on the d-file. The second thing to note is that after 9. 0-0 0-0, it is incredibly easy to play this position for a draw. The Four Knights is a solid opening if you want to never lose before move 20, but winning with a Four Knights, even the Scotch Accepted, might prove quite difficult.

4. Latvian Gambit 

This has been refuted. As such, you might win against someone once with it, but even then, it isn't a particularly solid gambit even if White doesn't play the refutation line.

3. Alekhine Defense, Normal Variation

If you've ever wondered how to play a pseudo-Indian Game against 1. e4, this is the simplest way to do it. There's a surprising amount of depth to this opening, not that Black will be using it often, as this opening is uncommon enough that White might have memorized a maximum of 1 line, and most likely not to its fullest extent. Incredibly versatile, near guaranteed to take your opponent out of their opening prep, solid imbalanced positions. I'd recommend it to hypermodern players, those familiar with Indian Games, and players facing 1. e4 players or traditional players.

2. Queen's Fianchetto/ Owen Defense

Modern but worse. Viable, wouldn't recommend when the Modern is much more playable.

1. Robatsh Defense, "the Rat"

The Modern Defense: Norwegian Variation. You might find yourself in a bit of trouble playing this, but it is technically playable. I wouldn't recommend it, though. If you want to play a KID, the Pirc and Modern move orders work much better than the KID move order against 1. e4 or 2. e4. Make sure to prep Exchange Alekhine's positions if you do play the Norwegian Modern.

Since someone decided that this thread had to rise from the dead, I will say the following 5 are the most underrated:

5) 7.h4 against the French Winawer - everyone goes for 7.Qg4, but 7.h4 is stronger.

4) The Elshad for White - 1.c3 intending 2.Qa4, 3.h3, 4.g4, and 5.Bg2

3) What Lakdawala coins as "The No Name Defense" - 1.d4 d6 2.c4? (2.e4!) e5!

2) Polish Defense (1.d4 b5)

1) Polish Opening (1.b4)

I usually play 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5. I might try the czech pirc, seems interesting.

I don't understand most of proposals here...

- BDG is seen as bad by most sources, and there are some reasons...