Chess Openings and Ratings

Abstract

The purpose of our research is to determine what chess opening works best for a given rating, so players can give themselves an edge and win more games. In chess, a person’s skill can be quantified in a number called a “rating”. Most chess websites use this rating to match players together with similar ratings to create an even match. Based on this skill rating, we want to determine what openings work best for different ranges of ratings. This is important because some openings have a more potent effect in lower ratings, but are not as effective in higher ratings. We compare different openings and their win rate together across different buckets of ratings to find out which opening, or openings are most effective at which rating.