Becchio: Netted winner with a diving header
Ross McCormack controlled Paddy Kenny's angled pass to tee up striker Luciano Becchio, who headed home the low cross with a diving effort in the 18th minute at Elland Road.
El-Hadji Diouf made his Leeds league bow from the bench as a replacement for the injured Paul Green as Neil Warnock got his season off to the perfect start in his attempts to guide a club to promotion for the eighth time in his career.
Birmingham salvaged a 1-1 draw against newly promoted Charlton when Nikola Zigic equalised in injury time.
Charlton looked to have got their Championship campaign off to a flying start after Leon Cort headed them into the lead into the 82nd minute before Zigic denied them all three points in the fourth minute of additional time.
Bolton fell to an opening defeat of the season following last term's relegation from the Premier League as they were beaten 2-0 by local rivals Burnley.
Martin Paterson's headed opener looked to have been offside but Charlie Austin sealed the win for the home side with a close range strike in the second half.
Blackburn also struggled in their first game in the second tier as a late own goal saw them draw 1-1 against Ipswich.
Colin Kazim-Richards headed Rovers into the lead at Portman Road but Jason Lowe cancelled out the lead in the 83rd minute to hand the home side a point.
Elsewhere, Watford came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 3-2 at Selhurst Park.
Palace midfielder Owen Garvan scored a first-half brace either side of Martin Taylor's strike but two late goals from Almen Abdi and Matej Vydra snatched the win for the visitors.
Reda Johnson's 90th minute header helped Sheffield Wednesday to a 2-2 draw against Derby at Pride Park.
First-half goals by Derby's Nathan Tyson and Jake Buxton set up a good cushion for the home side but Chris O'Grady fired home for Wednesday just before the break with Johnson's last-gasp score claiming a point for the visitors.
Thomas Ince scored twice for Blackpool as the Seasiders beat Millwall 2-0 at the Den.
Ince opened the scoring on the half hour before he wrapped up the win in the 60th minute with a strike to the top left corner.
Second half goals for Wes Morgan and Andy King saw Leicester beat Peterborough 2-0 at the King Power Stadium while Adlene Guedioura's strike gave Nottingham Forest a 1-0 win over Bristol City.
Barnsley beat Middlesbrough 1-0 thanks to Craig Davies' goal on the stroke of half time and Hull defeated Brighton by the same scoreline when Jay Simpson got on the scoreboard with five minutes remaining.
