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1.e4 and 1.d4 still rule elite chess, but the very best keep their repertoires deliberately wide.
Across the season, the opening choices of the world’s top 20 confirm a familiar truth: 1.e4 and 1.d4 still dominate, together accounting for nearly four of every five games, with 1.e4 leading at 48.5 percent and 1.d4 at 32.2 percent. The sharper story is how differently the strongest players distribute their choices. Among the top 10 players 1.e4 accounts for about 42 percent of games, against more than 60 percent among the lower 10, the elite spread their games across more first moves and lean less on a single favorite.
A few signatures stand out. Nakamura leaned on 1.b3 more than anyone else, a reminder that even at the top an offbeat first move remains a weapon, while Keymer built around the flexible 1.Nf3. The chart below shows every player’s first-move mix.
▲ First-move mix of the top 20, ordered by peak rating. Shares are across the five most-played first moves; rare 1.a4 and 1.f4 are omitted.
Across 7,466 games, the club and expert ranks produced the most decisive chess, while the 2600 elite drew far more of theirs.
▲ Decisive-game rate by rating band (7,466 games). Decisiveness peaks near 84.2% at the 2200 band, then slides to 65.6% among the 2600 elite.
An interactive study of White’s most instructive wins in the A47.
Read the full breakdown →| Player | Games | Score | Actual Rating | Performance Rating | Rating Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muradli,Mahammad | 5 | 4.5 | 2630 | 2890 | 260 |
| Uskov,Artem | 5 | 4.0 | 2505 | 2711 | 206 |
| Dau Khuong Duy | 11 | 9.0 | 2526 | 2711 | 185 |
| Aditya,Mittal | 5 | 4.0 | 2593 | 2773 | 180 |
| Abdisalimov,Abdimalik | 7 | 5.5 | 2536 | 2707 | 171 |
| Terry,R | 44 | 32.0 | 2500 | 2646 | 146 |
| Lazavik,Denis | 25 | 12.5 | 2621 | 2766 | 145 |
| Makarian,Rudik | 14 | 12.0 | 2543 | 2671 | 128 |
| Oro,Faustino | 22 | 17.0 | 2537 | 2657 | 120 |
| Suleymanli,Aydin | 6 | 4.0 | 2668 | 2784 | 116 |
| So,W | 6 | 4.0 | 2765 | 2878 | 113 |
| Vachier Lagrave,M | 6 | 3.5 | 2713 | 2817 | 104 |
| Sardana,Rishi | 7 | 5.0 | 2506 | 2608 | 102 |
| Tsydypov,Z | 16 | 11.5 | 2509 | 2606 | 97 |
| Sokolovsky,Yahli | 5 | 4.0 | 2541 | 2638 | 97 |
| Player | Games | Score | Actual Rating | Performance Rating | Rating Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avanesian,Artem | 22 | 16.0 | 2212 | 2597 | 385 |
| Celik,Ali Alper | 7 | 4.5 | 2216 | 2531 | 315 |
| Borgaonkar,Akshay | 11 | 8.5 | 2396 | 2697 | 301 |
| Navumenka,Mikhei | 5 | 3.5 | 2297 | 2579 | 282 |
| Zharas,Aldiyar | 8 | 6.0 | 2285 | 2562 | 277 |
| Dyachuk,Artem | 5 | 5.0 | 2376 | 2643 | 267 |
| Muradli,Mahammad | 5 | 4.5 | 2630 | 2890 | 260 |
| Sivakumar,Shaaketh | 15 | 8.5 | 2238 | 2493 | 255 |
| Moreno Perez,Tobias Sebastian | 5 | 4.5 | 2367 | 2613 | 246 |
| Botta,Massimiliano | 6 | 3.5 | 2276 | 2518 | 242 |
| Stankovic,Boris | 5 | 4.0 | 2304 | 2545 | 241 |
| Sharipov,Davron | 11 | 7.5 | 2279 | 2513 | 234 |
| Kleschevnikov,Arseny | 8 | 6.0 | 2311 | 2541 | 230 |
| Mikhailovsky,Vladimir | 11 | 7.0 | 2215 | 2444 | 229 |
| Pashikyan,Rudolf | 5 | 3.5 | 2347 | 2573 | 226 |
| Player | Games | Score | Actual Rating | Performance Rating | Rating Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isakov,Amin | 8 | 6.5 | 1860 | 2612 | 752 |
| Richterova,Natasa 1974 | 5 | 2.0 | 1529 | 2144 | 615 |
| Asish Panda | 11 | 7.5 | 1974 | 2458 | 484 |
| Kozhedub,Ivan | 8 | 4.5 | 1962 | 2404 | 442 |
| Zhelonkin,Kirill Mikh | 8 | 4.5 | 1956 | 2391 | 435 |
| Oberoi,Shelev | 8 | 5.0 | 2172 | 2591 | 419 |
| Shavkatov,Temur | 8 | 4.5 | 2027 | 2436 | 409 |
| Aslanyan,Arman S. | 8 | 3.0 | 1861 | 2265 | 404 |
| Avanesian,Artem | 22 | 16.0 | 2212 | 2597 | 385 |
| Makhina,Viktoria | 8 | 4.0 | 1964 | 2341 | 377 |
| Ortiz Menacho,Sebastian Alonso | 5 | 5.0 | 2064 | 2424 | 360 |
| Astrovski,Roman | 8 | 3.0 | 1897 | 2254 | 357 |
| Morello Ostos,D | 6 | 4.0 | 1936 | 2288 | 352 |
| Abdukayumov,Alisher | 8 | 3.5 | 1985 | 2336 | 351 |
| Sagynbekova,Zhibek | 8 | 2.0 | 1812 | 2162 | 350 |
Explore the highest-performing openings across different Elo tiers and time controls.
| Player | Games Played | Score | Avg Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paravyan,D | 44 | 30.5 | 2597 |
| Rustemov,A | 44 | 25.0 | 2525 |
| Terry,R | 44 | 32.0 | 2500 |
| Taher,Yoseph Theolifus | 43 | 31.0 | 2451 |
| Chen,Yidong | 43 | 21.5 | 2117 |
| Santiago Vilca,Christian Amilca | 40 | 22.0 | 2274 |
| Ocampos,I | 37 | 17.0 | 2286 |
| Miserendino,A | 36 | 9.5 | 2043 |
| Moosavifar,Seyed Abolfazl | 35 | 21.0 | 2419 |
| Pribelszky,Bence | 34 | 17.0 | 2366 |
| Mahdavi,Reza | 34 | 22.5 | 2485 |
| Zierk,S | 33 | 20.5 | 2489 |
| Volchkova,Alena | 33 | 16.0 | 2162 |
| Steinberg,N | 33 | 24.0 | 2560 |
| Di Liberto,Michele | 33 | 14.0 | 2219 |