What's the best opening for chess beginners?

The Italian Game (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4) is perfect for beginners. Natural development, clear plans, and you learn classical principles.

London System if you want something solid you can play against everything as white.

The second person nailed it. I've been fishing for years and picked up chess a few years back, and I wasted so much time memorizing opening lines when I barely understood what I was doing. Just focus on getting your pieces out, controlling the middle of the board, and castling safely - that'll win you way more games than knowing some fancy trap. Once you actually understand *why* you're moving pieces somewhere, then you can start looking at specific openings, but don't put the cart before the horse.

I'd say the second person really hit the nail on the head here. Before you're even thinking about which opening to choose, you need to understand *why* moves matter. Are you someone who likes having a concrete plan from move one, or do you get frustrated memorizing stuff without understanding it first?

That said, if you want an actual opening to practice while learning principles, the Italian Game is solid - but honestly, even just playing 1.e4 and focusing on getting your pieces out naturally works fine. The real skill at beginner level is recognizing when your opponent is doing something weird and knowing how to punish it, not remembering move 12 of some theoretical line. You'll probably play hundreds of games before you even reach positions where memorized openings matter.

One thing though - are you playing online blitz/rapid, or over the board classical? And are you losing games because of your opening specifically, or is it more middlegame/endgame stuff? That matters because if you're already losing in the middlegame, spending time on openings is definitely putting the cart before the horse. Focus on tactics first (seriously, do some puzzle training), understand basic endgames, and *then* worry about having a polished opening repertoire. You'll improve way faster that way.

Understanding why you're moving pieces matters way more than which opening you pick - I taught for close to twenty years and spent my first year playing chess thinking memorization was the whole game, then realized I couldn't even explain what my own pieces were supposed to be doing. Do you already understand concepts like piece values and basic tactics, or are you starting totally fresh?