So then d4 is the strongest opening move

This is continuation of my thread about the strongest chess opening. I did further analasys with my reliable engine deep sjeng. I had it analyze the opening position for white for half and hour and it's conclusion after analyzing 423 million moves (235 k per second) to a depth of 21 ply is that strongest opening for white is d4 with a given score of .09 where 1.00= 1 pawn. I like d4 but haven't really studied it that much. I find this interesting because Most GM's I've seen use E4. The second strongest move for white is Nf6. Surprise? I though it would be a tie between e4 and d4, but my machine never even considered e4! It stopped liking Nc6 after 16 ply and 30 seconds.

It's rather quixotic to expect an engine to find out a definite answer about this, especially when it's only on one computer. The computer chess world have access to top multi-processor engines that should be a couple times more powerful than what you used to analyse and still use opening books. There's a reason for this, and it's that engines have a limited scope, they will see up to a certain move, but if you take move 1, the amount of moves to let's say, move 10 is already very big, but opening theory can go up to 30 moves, for an engine to calculate all the possibilities of a 30 move game would take much, much more than 2 hours.

" 423 million moves"

That's about the first 7 moves analysed.

"The computer chess world have access to top multi-processor engines that should be a couple times more powerful than what you used to analyse and still use opening books."

There's the refutation. The 30-minute analysis of your computer is not so good as the collective wisdom of grandmasters, at least in non-tactical positions.

"It's rather quixotic"

a seldom seen but rather effective descriptive analogy.

the exotic quixotic...

The first move is important, of course, but what makes chess an art, is the continuous flow of movement in a game.

 Trying to find the best algorythm is like trying to find the truth in life. Each person has their very own truth.

** hum, that sound great, I should write it down hehe ** 

Either way, most GM's don't necessarily look that far ahead, but by playing and studying so much they analyze different patterns.

It's still more reliable than computer analysis.

Probably 1. Nf3 is the best move, as it is the most flexible.

And statistically the sicilian probably gives the best winning chances, but 1...e5 is the most popular at top level now as it is less risky. 

I like ...c6 vs. king-pawn openings. But isn't all of this "what's the best first move" stuff a bit dull? It sounds like the people who walk up to a casual game and ask, "Who's winning?"...doesn't show much understanding for the game. If you can't look at the board and tell who is winning, then you shouldn't ask. If you think there is one BEST first move, then you need to do some reading.

My humble opinion

I agree, not that it's the strongest first move per se, but that it is the one most likely to force other patzers of my present level to play something other than their beloved Sicilians. I doubt if this psychological advantage would hold true with an experienced player.

I've long tried to popularize this word with little success, almost as if I'd been tilting at logophillic windmills.