Fun With The Database

The recently revealed Chess.com opening database, which contains over 30 billion (that's indeed a capital B!) games, is a real feast for any chess aficionado. Imagine you travel to a completely new city and want to see the real life of the people. You wouldn't go to a five-star Michelin restaurant for dinner. Instead, you'd try street food. That's the true taste of the city. This is how the new Chess.com opening database feels to me.

For starters, I wanted to check which opening moves were most popular on Chess.com, so I followed the first line for both White and Black. For instance, the most popular first move for White by far is 1.e4, which was played 16.1 billion times. Consequently, the most popular response for Black is 1...e5, which was played 8.6 billion times. Are you ready to see the most popular Chess.com opening? Here it is:

Just like with most good statistics, it is a good representation of reality. Since the vast majority of Chess.com members are rated below 1000, this is exactly what you can expect from the less experienced players. Moreover, I remember one of my first tournament games where I was Black and played exactly like in the game above. The only difference was that I didn't blunder a checkmate in one. I think I played 8...Qf6 (which is the third most popular move in the database), but eventually lost the game anyway.

You can find many amusing factoids in the database, like, for example, that Scholar's Mate happened in over 9.5 million games played on Chess.com.

Or that in 3.5 million games, White retreated with his queen with 4.Qf3 instead of playing 4.Qxf7 checkmate. But I guess the most important question for most Chess.com members would be how this database will help them to win their own games. While Chess.com's opening database is just a humongous statistical collection and not a magic wand, it can still be quite useful to achieve this goal.

Since we know the most likely lines your opponents will play against you, we can try to find an antidote, and the statistics should help us achieve this goal. As we go through the most popular opening moves, let's keep an eye on the statistical column. It will show us that if after White's move 4.Ng5 Black plays 4...Nxe4 instead of 4...d5, their results jump to 51%! Checking what happens after the 4...Nxe4 move, we can immediately see very encouraging results for Black:

While this is the most popular line after Black plays 4...Nxe4, it is definitely not the best. If you check the column of the computer evaluation, you'll see that the best move for White is 5.Bxf7+, which is the third most popular move and happened in 1.2 million games. Even though it is way less popular than the 5.Nxf7? line, which happened in 4.1 million games, you still need to be prepared for your opponent's best move. Thankfully, the database reveals that despite the grim engine evaluation, even after the best move 5.Bxf7, it is far from over. After all, you are going to play it against a fellow Chess.com member and not an engine! Check the game played by Isidor Gunsberg, a candidate for the world title, who lost a very close match vs. the first world champion Wilhelm Steinitz:

And here is a more recent master game:

As you can see, I recommend using the Chess.com opening database in two different ways. First of all, you use the database of all the games played on Chess.com. This way, you'll see the lines that will probably happen most frequently in your games. But the quality of the moves in these lines will be very low. Here is just one example. If your opponent indeed plays 5.Bxf7+ and you answer with 5...Ke7, then White's most probable move is 6.Nxe4 and the game will continue this way:

So, as you can see, the most popular moves played by Chess.com members are not always the best, and you can turn this to your advantage! To figure out what would be the best moves and how you can beat your opponents in those most popular lines, you can use the built-in engine or even Chess.com's database of master games. In all three master games where the position after 7.Qf3+ appeared on the board, Black played the correct move 7...Ke8!

I guess you already understand the method I recommend to take full advantage of this database.

Step #1: See the most popular moves, because these are the moves you can expect in your games.

Step#2: Use master games and an engine to figure out how to deal with these most popular lines.

Using this simple method, we can find how to trap our opponents in the abovementioned line:

You can use this method to develop sharp, attacking opening lines that will be very difficult to navigate for your opponents. You just need to remember to set the database to your potential opponents' level. For instance, say your Chess.com rating is 1200. Set the database rating range from "Min" to "1600" because this is probably what 99% of your opponents will be. In this case, in our key position, you'll see the following results:

1) 5.Nxf7 - 4.1 million games and Black is already better (-0.56)

2) 5.Nxe4 - 2.4 million games and Black's advantage is even bigger (-1.4)

3) 5. Bxf7+ - 1.2 million games where White gets an advantage (+2.3) 

As you can see, you're more likely to face the inferior moves 5.Nxf7 and 5.Nxe4 in your games. But even in the case of the best move 5.Bxf7, as we discussed already, it will be extremely difficult for your opponents to prove the engine's evaluation.

Now, let's say your Chess.com rating is 1700. In this case, the vast majority of your opponents will be rated somewhere between 1400 and 2000. Naturally, you need to set the database to this rating range. Then you'll get different results in our key position:

1) 5.Bxf7+ happened in 341,000 games

2) 5.Nxf7 happened in 240,000 games

3) 5. Nxe4 happened in 164,000 games

In this case, the chance to face the best move 5.Bxf7 is much higher, and you might prefer to play a different opening line.

No matter if you decide to play this or a similar sharp line, or if you prefer something more solid. This kind of investigation is always a lot of fun, and besides, you'll definitely improve your opening knowledge and general chess skills.