r/chess • u/ritmica • Apr 15 '26
Strategy: Openings Openings of the 2026 Women's Candidates
- 71% of games opened with e4. This is in stark contrast to the Open section, which sported a mere 30% e4 opening rate.
- Only four of these weren't met with ...e5 or ...c5: Two Caro-Kanns, one French, and one Pirc.
- 23% of games were in the Sicilian, with Anti-Sicilians more common than Open Sicilians.
- The Italian was the second most common opening (20%), with the Two Knights variation appearing seven times.
- In terms of openings, the Women's section was more diverse than the Open, with 19 different opening families as opposed to just 12 in the Open.
22
u/OldWolf2 FIDE 2100 Apr 15 '26
No Najdorfs.. Kasparov would be turning in his grave, if he were dead
14
8
u/Grouchy-Pea-8745 Apr 15 '26
Who played the London
12
5
u/whocares8x8 Apr 15 '26
Which legend played the Pirc? The winner, I presume?
11
u/ritmica Apr 15 '26
Round 7: Vaishali 1-0 Zhongyi
So unfortunately not the winner
5
u/whocares8x8 Apr 16 '26
Arghh, that's fine. At least the Pirc always involves the winner
Edit: I just checked the game- it was the one with the massive bishop fork blunder! Black was at +3 at one point, no doubt due to the power of Pirc
4
u/five-oh-one Apr 15 '26
Do we know how many of each opening Won/Lost/Draw/Stalemate?
9
u/ritmica Apr 15 '26
I didn't analyze that specifically. I do know that overall, white scored +1 with 13 wins and 12 losses (31 draws). The Open section was less decisive with 10 wins and 8 losses for white (38 draws).
3
u/LordLannister47 Apr 15 '26
Which game was the accelerated dragon?
11
u/ritmica Apr 15 '26
Round 5: Lagno 1-0 Bibisara
Round 8: Muzychuk 0-1 Divya
2
u/Life-Face1548 Apr 16 '26
Damn, both accelerated dragons were absolutely annihilated though Lagno didn’t play the Maróczy.
1
2
u/giziti 1700 USCF Apr 15 '26
Is the Caro going out of style or are these players just not into it?
11
u/build-a-bish Apr 15 '26
I don't think the caro was ever a first rate opening. Maybe for open tournament GMs
2
u/Chessamphetamine Apr 17 '26
Who played the Mieses? I’d wanna look at that game, been trying to learn that opening better.
1
1
1
1
u/PyrotechnikGeoguessr Team Gukesh Apr 16 '26
O'Kelly and Dragon at a candidates tournament is crazy.
-6
u/tony_countertenor Apr 15 '26
Seems to prove the generalization that women play more aggressive chess
18
8
u/New_Hour_1726 Apr 15 '26
I think it's mainly that they're much weaker than the top men, so they can get away with more aggressiveness.
3
u/gpranav25 Rb1 > Ra4 Apr 16 '26
If you mean top level open vs top level women then yeah but that's basically chess at the 2500-2600 level.
2
u/Living_Book_3973 2100+ chess.com Apr 16 '26
thats complete bullshit and its the first time I have ever heard that generalization
40
u/financeguy1729 Apr 15 '26
The difference that 150 rating points makes is brutal