29 March 2014

Chess960 Database, Part III

After I wrote the previous post, Chess960 Database, Part II, HarryO commented,
The Chess960 Jungle database has increased to over 1700 games. The database is still useful even if it is small. Seeing the games of top players primes people with the confidence to give 960 a go.

It's a good point, so I counted the different names on the database.

The chart on the left shows the 25 players with the highest number of games. At least half of the top-10 are strong GMs whose names are immediately recognizable.

Third on the list is a surname shared by two players, one of whom (Matthias Kribben) played in both ICCF and Mainz. Sixth on the list isn't Laszlo Szabo, the one time World Championship contender who died in 1998, but again a number of players with the same surname, most of whom played on LSS.

For the link to Chess960 Jungle, see the right sidebar.

1 comment:

HarryO said...

Even patzers like myself can have some confidence to play Chess960 openings when we study the database!

Check out the link below, Anand-vs-Aronian in the Chess960 world championship of 2007.

If the top players can play like that there is still some hope for the rest of us!

Note that Anand has just qualified for the world champion rematch against Carlsen today, and Aronian could well finish in second place behind him.

Anand v Aronian Chess960:
http://chess960jungle.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/chess960-anand-blunders-on-move-2-in.html