The most beautiful chess opening?

Efficiency of openings is another thing; which openings do you consider most aesthetically appealing? It really doesn't matter how deep the variation is, you just tell me why you think it's the most aesthetically pleasing, and you can also post a diagram or a game that displays the beauty of that opening if you want to. I'd have to go with the King's Gambit for White and the KID for Black, because both are rich with racing excitement and give plenty of chances to both players, and even though the KG is an Open Game whilst the KID is a Semi-closed one, they both contain a lot of sacrificial potential.

you are correct grasshopper! Pressure city.

Aesthetically pleasing openings for me include the KID after Black has played f5, the f4 vienna, and the French Defense Advance

You're right, I wasn't precise about the KID, of course it's looking best when f5 is played! And you're right about the French Tarrasch, that's one of the reasons I'd like to try the French. Any other ideas?

I like the Gruenfeld's iron logic in its opening phase. Black attacks d4, white defends it, and again, and again. It all makes a lot of sense.

I also quite like the semi-slav botvinnik type variations with Black's big holey queenside pawn structures (a6,b5,c6,c4). The position always looks very 'alive' to me.

queen's gambit declined is a beautiful opening.

QGD is certainly not :/

How about Alekhine's Defence, or the Nimzo-Indian? Or even Hippopotamus? What do you think of them?

I like the look of a Benko Gambit, accepted fully, of course...

For aesthetics, I 've always been a fan of the Polugaevsky variation of the Najdorf.  Black's thrust of the b pawn looks suicidal at first, and it's that counter-intuitive feel to it that I find most appealing.

 especially when played by 'beautiful' players, such as Karpov.

Yes! Benko Gambit fully accepted for sure. Black emerges with that interesting Dragon-ish pawn structure.

I'd also make a case for the Sicilian Pin and the Sicilian Kan after Black's Qc7, Nc6.

I'd have to say the KID. What's so incredible about it is that it's a game of multiple battles: first in the opening for both sides trying to be the better placed in the center (for white to either play d5 to attack on the queenside or force black to captrue ...exd4). Understanding of the center is important. Then there is the struggle between a kingside and queenside attack, which is a closed game where each side has a long term plan, but inevitably it all tactically explodes too. White and black have a wide variety of plans.

The ruy lopez is quite nice too. The fact that it is completely correct and sound at the same time interesting positional play is nice. But I still find the struggles in the KID to be more engaging.

Nicely said, Elubas and ouachita! And please try not to get carried away with Trompowsky here, we're discussing multiple openings!

I totally agree, Breyer Defense is fully loaded. My personal favorite is the Moller Defense of the Ruy Lopez

This position in the KID. You can tell both sides' plans from the other side of the playing hall!

Scarblac:

You can just see the fireworks about to explode.

OK, how about we make a Hurt/Heal forthe most appealing openings? We could do it for White openings, for Black openings, or for all openings. First you could give me your suggestions on which openings should be participating, and when there are at least ten openings for White and Black each, I'll sum it and request a volunteer to organize the Hurt/Heal for White and Black openings separately, and once those are over, we could do a mixed category Hurt/Heal using the top 5 openings for White and Black each. If you agree with this, please keep it serious and don't go anywhere out of the book when suggesting the openings, and please include the player colour for each opening that you suggest. Also, if there is a longer line of a previously posted variation suggested, then the better-looking one will be included. Thanks in advance.

No, please no, no more Hurt/Heals.