I think the Slav must be up there. The Sicilian by far against e4.
Most popular chess openings today?
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DrSpudnik wrote:
I think the Slav must be up there. The Sicilian by far against e4.
which flavors of the slav and sicilian? closed sicilian? dragon? najdorf? any of those more unpopular?
http://czyzewski.org/chess/open-stats.html
the most popular, etc, stats from this person's research are nearer the bottom of the page ... :)
DrSpudnik wrote:
I think the Slav must be up there. The Sicilian by far against e4.
Isn't the ruy lopez popular these days? The Sicilian is definetly not the most popular by far
italian, Scilian, Caro Kann defence, Slav defence
stubborn_d0nkey wrote:
DrSpudnik wrote:
I think the Slav must be up there. The Sicilian by far against e4.
Isn't the ruy lopez popular these days? The Sicilian is definetly not the most popular by far
The higher you go ratingswise, the more Sicilians you see. Open Sicilians especially. The Ruy will always be around as long as you have open games with Nf3/Nc6. Even here on Chess.com I hardly see 1...e5 any more.
The statistical chart above is mainly oriented to the % win/lose/draw for various openings rather than how popular they are. The chessok.com database has a column for the number of games played that appear in the database, so you can see that the most popular answer to 1.e4 is c5. Of the 1,910,000 games that start with e4, c5 beats out e5 788,000 to 449,000...and the Ruy--by far the most popular move 3--comes in with 164,000, far above the Italian Bishop at only 74,900.
(figures are rounded)
DrSpudnik wrote:
The statistical chart above is mainly oriented to the % win/lose/draw for various openings rather than how popular they are. The chessok.com database has a column for the number of games played that appear in the database, so you can see that the most popular answer to 1.e4 is c5. Of the 1,910,000 games that start with e4, c5 beats out e5 788,000 to 449,000...and the Ruy--by far the most popular move 3--comes in with 164,000, far above the Italian Bishop at only 74,900.
(figures are rounded)
I haven't had my coffee yet, but are you implying that I said the ruy lopez is by far the most popular? I did not(edit: had some coffee, my mistake :P). What timeframe is on that database? All the games in the database? Not something more recent, like last year, last 6 months or something else that could constitute today?
What players does it include? Only GMs? Or also IMs FMs, and even unknowns?
The question is what is the most popular opening today among GMs, not whats the most popular opening of all time among all players.
I haven't seen 1.e4 2. c5 lately that much lately in GM games. Of course its possible that I'm just a fluke when it comes to it, but it's more likely that it is a trend. Example of what I've been seeing, in Bilbao IIRC 1... e5 has been played so far four-five times and 1...c5 1... nf3 1...e6 each one time.
Databases (without filters) can not answer the OP's question.
DrSpudnik wrote:
The higher you go ratingswise, the more Sicilians you see. Open Sicilians especially. The Ruy will always be around as long as you have open games with Nf3/Nc6. Even here on Chess.com I hardly see 1...e5 any more.
Actually no, at absolute top level nowadays it seems everyone is playing the Berlin and Schliemann variations of the Ruy, I think there are a lot more of those than Sicilians right now. Against 1.d4, the QGD is in vogue since Elista.
Of course there is a large difference between normal GM level and world top (2750+) level.
Drink more coffee. In double king-pawn games at move 3 (after Nf3; Nc6) the Ruy is the most popular.
On the whole, to be right up to date, you'd need to look up tournament reports of high-level events and compile your own list. Right now, I'd say that (from looking at New In Chess & other game examples) that 1.d4 is a bit preferred at the highest levels. One big problem is transpositions in the early moves. The Nimzo-Indian would be a lot more often seen if it didn't veer toward QGD after Nf3. Then it can drift again into the Catalan.
In the Ruy, I get the impression that the Berlin Defense (3...Nf6) was more popular a few years back at the highest levels. I've noticed my favorite Breyer Variation popping up more recently--dang! I remember when people used to think you made a mistake by playing Nb8 instead of Na5!
Aside from going to some site like chessgames and calling up the top 10 players and looking through their games, there is no good way to answer the OP that I know of.
ivoryknight71 wrote:At the Grand Master level, what are the most popular chess openings / defenses right now?
With the existence of computer technology to assist in opening evaluation, I believe that from now on there will be a tendency where more GM will choose opening that is theoretically strong, with secondary objective of having an asymmetrical position.
Based on the above, most GM will choose 1.d4 as the first move. Only a few will choose 1.e4, 1.c4 or 1.Nf3 (most will even transpose to 1.d4 mainline).
On the second move forward, Nimzo-QID complex will be most favoured, followed closely by QGD-Slav complex. Then will come the Sicilian that will dominate the Ruy Lopez and the French (and a few Caro-Kann) in 1.e4 line.
Next will be Gruendfeld-KID complex followed by English opening.
With so many GMs, IMs, FMs, NMs, and W*Ms on this site, I was figuring one or some of them would just say, "Currently..."
DrSpudnik wrote:
Drink more coffee. In double king-pawn games at move 3 (after Nf3; Nc6) the Ruy is the most popular.
On the whole, to be right up to date, you'd need to look up tournament reports of high-level events and compile your own list. Right now, I'd say that (from looking at New In Chess & other game examples) that 1.d4 is a bit preferred at the highest levels. One big problem is transpositions in the early moves. The Nimzo-Indian would be a lot more often seen if it didn't veer toward QGD after Nf3. Then it can drift again into the Catalan.
In the Ruy, I get the impression that the Berlin Defense (3...Nf6) was more popular a few years back at the highest levels. I've noticed my favorite Breyer Variation popping up more recently--dang! I remember when people used to think you made a mistake by playing Nb8 instead of Na5!
Aside from going to some site like chessgames and calling up the top 10 players and looking through their games, there is no good way to answer the OP that I know of.
Did I say that ruy wasn't the most popular? It is the most popular after 1. e4 e5 but if you are talking about that then you are switching topics. Why should I drink more coffee?
If there is no other good way to answer then why did you use a database?
ivoryknight71 wrote:At the Grand Master level, what are the most popular chess openings / defenses right now?
And what is your motive to ask such question? Do you want to play what the future GMs will play?
All the strongest GMs have played 1.e4. Do you want to play 1.d4 now and 1.e4 later, or do you want to play 1.e4 now and 1.d4 later? Or do you not want to play 1.e4 at all? 
yusuf_prasojo wrote:
ivoryknight71 wrote:At the Grand Master level, what are the most popular chess openings / defenses right now?
And what is your motive to ask such question? Do you want to play what the future GMs will play?...
Mere curiosity. I have no intention on switching my openings or defenses. Just curious what lines of the Sicilian, Ruy, Semi-Slav, etc., are hot right now.
cough cough King's Indian.
How has no one mentioned it?
Would be interested in some current answers here...
I would like to see stats that show what; GM's, IM's and all M's, are playing as white. My first impression would be the "Queens Gambit, since you see so many in the current mag's. Then for 1e4? Defences come after. Forgive my spelling, I have somewhere to be. Be well, play well!Please be relevant, helpful & nice!
The November 2015 issue of Chess lists the top twenty openings compiled from a list of 1452 September games where both players were rated over 2400 Elo. One can not take position on this list too seriously because it is greatly influenced by how the openings are grouped. For example, all the Retis are grouped together, while English is separated into 1 ... c5, 1 ... e5, etc. Nevertheless, for what it is worth, the list reports 71 Slavs, 61 Caro Kanns, 56 Najdorf Sicilians, 56 Declined Queen's Gambits, 55 King's Indians, 49 Ruy Lopez Berlin Defences, 46 Nimzo-Indians, 40 1 ... c5 Englishes, 39 Queen's Indians, 37 1 ... e5 Englishes, 37 Gruenfelds, 31 1 ... Nf6 Englishes, 26 Kan Sicilians, 25 1 ... e6 Englishes, 24 2 Nf3 sideline Sicilians, and 24 Taimanov Sicilians.
At the Grand Master level, what are the most popular chess openings / defenses right now?