King’s Indian Defence At No.1

15 Nov 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Based on the trends of chess openings as played by international masters and grandmasters in September 2012, the following are the top twenty chess openings:-

Ranking Number	Chess Opening	Number of games
1	King’s Indian Defence	129
2	Slav Defence	122
3	Nimzo Indian Defence	108
4	Caro-Kann Defence	89
5	Reti Opening	82
6	Sicilian, Najdorf Variation	68
7	Grunfeld, Classical Variation	67
8	Semi-Slav Defence	64
9	Queen’s Gambit Declined	62
10	Sicilian, Kan Variation	58
11	English, 1 c4 Nf6	55
12	English, 1 c4 e5	55
13	Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence	52
14	English, 1 c4 c5	50
15	Queen’s Indian Defence	50
16	Queen’s Pawn, 1 d4 Nf6	49
17	Sicilian, 2 Nf3 d6 sidelines	45
18	English, 1 c4 e6	41
19	French, Tarrasch Variation	41
20	Sicilian, 2 Nf3 deviations	39

(source: Chess Magazine, Volume 77 No.8 November 2012)