If you’re looking for a new opening you’ve come to the right place! I warned you all that this was coming, this will be a bit dryer than my usual chess posting. I intend to do some fairly in depth research on the openings that were played during the 2013 World Cup so we amateurs can get an idea as to what new ideas are going to “trickle down” to us lowly club players.
From the starting position with no move made for either side there were a total of 432 game played, of those games:
From the Initial Position:
| Games |
1-0 |
1/2-1/2 |
0-1 |
Score |
| 432 |
131 |
218 |
83 |
55.5 |
Which basically means that contrary to what Andras Adorjan believes, black still needs ideas. In addition to this:
| Move |
ECO |
Frequency |
Score |
%Draws |
| d4 |
A40a |
181: 41.6% |
60.4% |
47% |
| e4 |
B00a |
169: 38.6% |
51.1% |
50% |
| Nf3 |
A04 |
44: 10.1% |
52.2% |
59% |
| c4 |
A10 |
34: 7.8% |
54.4% |
62% |
| g3 |
A00t |
3: 0.6% |
33.3% |
33% |
| b3 |
A01 |
1: 0.2% |
100% |
0% |
As you can see 1.d4 was the most popular move of this World Cup and scored greater than the average score of 55.5% with white. From this we can conclude that 1.e4 is not “best by test” and that Fischer was wrong (something I’ve known since my early childhood days of playing 1.d4). Let’s break d4 down a bit (I’ll do the same for e4). After 1.d4 the most common reply was 1. … Nf6 2.c4 e6 (entering the Nimzo-Indian systems).
After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4:
| Games |
1-0 |
1/2-1/2 |
0-1 |
Score |
| 25 |
4 |
18 |
3 |
52.0 |
| Move |
ECO |
Frequency |
Score |
%Draws |
| Qc2 |
E32a |
8: 32.0% |
62.5% |
75% |
| Nf3 |
E21 |
8: 32.0% |
43.7% |
63% |
| e3 |
E40 |
8: 32.0% |
50% |
75% |
| Bg5 |
E30 |
1: 4.0% |
50% |
100% |
An interesting novelty occurred in the game Dreev – Azarov after: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 O-O 5.Nf3 c5 6.dxc5 Na6 7.g3 Nxc5 8.Bg2 Nce4 9.O-O Nxc3 10.bxc3 Be7 11.e4 d6 12.e5 dxe5 13.Nxe5 Qc7 14.Qe2 Nd7 15.Bf4 Nxe5 16.Bxe5 Bd6 17.Rfe1!?N (17.Bxd6 was previously played).
After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5:
| Games |
1-0 |
1/2-1/2 |
0-1 |
Score |
| 18 |
11 |
4 |
3 |
72.2 |
| Move |
ECO |
Frequency |
Score |
%Draws |
| Nc3 |
D37a |
13: 72.2% |
61.5% |
31% |
| g3 |
E00o |
4: 22.2% |
100% |
0% |
| Bg5 |
D30v |
1: 5.5% |
100% |
0% |
An interesting Novelty occurred in the game: Gelfand – Rahman
After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3:
| Games |
1-0 |
1/2-1/2 |
0-1 |
Score |
| 35 |
15 |
17 |
3 |
67.1 |
| Move |
ECO |
Frequency |
Score |
%Draws |
| d5 |
D80 |
23: 65.7% |
65.2% |
52% |
| Bg7 |
E61b |
12: 34.2% |
70.8% |
42% |
It’s interesting to see that the Grunfeld in recent years has overtaken the Kings Indian as the most popular line after g6 at the top levels. Delving into it:
After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7:
| Games |
1-0 |
1/2-1/2 |
0-1 |
Score |
| 10 |
6 |
4 |
0 |
80.0 |
| Move |
ECO |
Frequency |
Score |
%Draws |
| Bc4 |
D86 |
4: 40.0% |
87.5% |
25% |
| Nf3 |
D85i |
3: 30.0% |
66.6% |
67% |
| Be3 |
D85g |
2: 20.0% |
75.0% |
50% |
| Qa4+ |
— |
1: 10.0% |
100% |
0% |
An interesting novelty occurred in the game Sambuev – Morozevich
After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6:
| Games |
1-0 |
1/2-1/2 |
0-1 |
Score |
| 12 |
6 |
5 |
1 |
70.8 |
| Move |
ECO |
Frequency |
Score |
%Draws |
| Nf3 |
E90a |
5: 41.6% |
80% |
40% |
| f3 |
E80a |
2: 16.6% |
75% |
50% |
| Bd3 |
E70j |
2: 16.6% |
75% |
50% |
| h3 |
E71a |
2: 16.6% |
75% |
50% |
| Be2 |
E73a |
1: 8.3% |
0% |
0% |
An interesting novelty occurred in the game Radjabov – Cori
Moving on to 1. … d5:
After 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3:
| Games |
1-0 |
1/2-1/2 |
0-1 |
Score |
| 19 |
6 |
11 |
2 |
60.5 |
| Move |
ECO |
Frequency |
Score |
%Draws |
| a6 |
D15d |
9: 47.3% |
61.1% |
78% |
| dxc4 |
D15o |
5: 26.3% |
70% |
20% |
| e6 |
D43a |
5: 26.3% |
50% |
60% |
Perhaps a bit surprising is the frequency that we are seeing the Slav Chameleon (a6) at the top levels. An interesting novelty occurred in the Kramnik – Andreikin game after:
After 1.e4:
| Games |
1-0 |
1/2-1/2 |
0-1 |
Score |
| 169 |
44 |
85 |
40 |
51.1 |
| Move |
ECO |
Frequency |
Score |
%Draws |
| e5 |
C20 |
64: 37.8% |
51.5% |
53% |
| c5 |
B20 |
63: 37.2% |
50% |
46% |
| c6 |
B10a |
22: 13.0% |
50% |
55% |
| e6?! |
C00a |
14: 8.2% |
46.4% |
64% |
| d6 |
B07a |
4: 2.3% |
62.5% |
25% |
| d5 |
B01a |
2: 1.1% |
100% |
0% |
Interestingly e5 was slightly more popular than c5 this tournament. Also the french was less popular than the Caro-Kann, which enforces the idea that I’ve long held which is that the french is junk. CARO-KANN FOR LYFEEEEEE.
After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5:
| Games |
1-0 |
1/2-1/2 |
0-1 |
Score |
| 33 |
7 |
19 |
7 |
50.0 |
| Move |
ECO |
Frequency |
Score |
%Draws |
| a6 |
C68a |
21: 63.6% |
50% |
43% |
| Nf6 |
C65a |
12: 36.3% |
50% |
83% |
As we’ve all seen the Berlin is here to stay at the top Levels.
After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7:
| Games |
1-0 |
1/2-1/2 |
0-1 |
Score |
| 12 |
2 |
6 |
4 |
41.6 |
| Move |
ECO |
Frequency |
Score |
%Draws |
| Re1 |
C87a |
5: 41.6% |
20% |
40% |
| d3 |
C84e |
4: 33.3% |
50% |
50% |
| Bxc6 |
C85a |
3: 25.0% |
66.6% |
67% |
An interesting Novelty occurred in the game Christiansen-Fressinet after:
Moving on to the Sicilian we note the Kan/Taimanov move order has become increasingly more popular:
After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3:
| Games |
1-0 |
1/2-1/2 |
0-1 |
Score |
| 54 |
13 |
29 |
12 |
50.9 |
| Move |
ECO |
Frequency |
Score |
%Draws |
| e6 |
B40a |
19: 35.1% |
50% |
58% |
| Nc6 |
B30a |
19: 35.1% |
47.3% |
53% |
| d6 |
B50a |
16: 29.6% |
56.2% |
50% |
Most Popular Sicilian Lines:
| Variation |
Games |
1-0 |
1/2-1/2 |
0-1 |
Score |
| Siclian/Taimanov/5.Nc3 |
13 |
3 |
5 |
5 |
42.3 |
| Sicilian/Najdorf |
12 |
3 |
8 |
1 |
58.3 |
| Sicilian/Rossolimo |
6 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
50 |
Of these variations an interesting novelty occurred in Wei-Nepomniachtchi after:
After 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5
| Games |
1-0 |
1/2-1/2 |
0-1 |
Score |
| 18 |
5 |
8 |
5 |
50.0 |
| Move |
ECO |
Frequency |
Score |
%Draws |
| e5 |
B12i |
8: 44.4% |
50% |
25% |
| Nc3 |
B15a |
6: 33.3% |
58.3% |
50% |
| f3 |
B12d |
2: 11.1% |
50% |
100% |
| Nd2 |
B12g |
1: 5.5% |
50% |
100% |
| exd5 |
B13a |
1: 5.5% |
0% |
0% |
Predictably the Caro-Kann Advance variation was the most popular choice in this tournament. Surprisingly enough though 3. … c5 (my old pet line) was trotted out very effectively by Andreikin. Here’s a novelty from one of his games:
And finally some misguided GM’s trotted out the French:
After 1.e4 e6?! 2.d4 d5
| Games |
1-0 |
1/2-1/2 |
0-1 |
Score |
| 15 |
2 |
10 |
3 |
46.6 |
| Move |
ECO |
Frequency |
Score |
%Draws |
| Nd2 |
C03a |
8: 53.3% |
56.2% |
88% |
| Nc3 |
C10a |
6: 40.0% |
33.3% |
33% |
| exd5 |
C01a |
1: 6.6% |
50% |
100% |
Unlike what I’ve previously done where I showed novelties for each side, so as not to encourage you foolish amateurs out there I will show you why exactly you shouldn’t play the black side of the french:
So I suppose that wraps up my brief opening survey from the 2013 World Cup. Hopefully you learned something new, or found some statistics to prove what you already knew. I used ChessDB for my research, if you have questions on my methodologies please let me know.
