Chess Openings by Nationality

How often do the Frenchthe French the Dutch Italians the English Spaniards Scandis Germans Indians the Polish the English Italians the French the Dutch Italians the English Spaniards Scandis Germans Indians the Polish the English Italians the French the Dutch Italians the English Spaniards Scandis Germans Indians the Polish the English Italians the French the Dutch Italians the English Spaniards Scandis Germans Indians the Polish the English Italians the French the Dutch Italians the English Spaniards Scandis Germans Indians the Polish the English Italians the French the Dutch Italians the English Spaniards Scandis Germans Indians the Polish the English Italians the French the Dutch Italians the English Spaniards Scandis Germans Indians the Polish the English Italians the French the Dutch Italians the English Spaniards Scandis Germans Indians the Polish the English Italians the French the Dutch Italians the English Spaniards Scandis Germans Indians the Polish the English Italians the French play the French?the French?the Dutch?the Italian?the English?the Spanish?the Scandi?the Berlin?the Indian?the Polish?the London?the Sicilian?the French?the Dutch?the Italian?the English?the Spanish?the Scandi?the Berlin?the Indian?the Polish?the London?the Sicilian?the French?the Dutch?the Italian?the English?the Spanish?the Scandi?the Berlin?the Indian?the Polish?the London?the Sicilian?the French?the Dutch?the Italian?the English?the Spanish?the Scandi?the Berlin?the Indian?the Polish?the London?the Sicilian?the French?the Dutch?the Italian?the English?the Spanish?the Scandi?the Berlin?the Indian?the Polish?the London?the Sicilian?the French?the Dutch?the Italian?the English?the Spanish?the Scandi?the Berlin?the Indian?the Polish?the London?the Sicilian?the French?the Dutch?the Italian?the English?the Spanish?the Scandi?the Berlin?the Indian?the Polish?the London?the Sicilian?the French?the Dutch?the Italian?the English?the Spanish?the Scandi?the Berlin?the Indian?the Polish?the London?the Sicilian?the French?the Dutch?the Italian?the English?the Spanish?the Scandi?the Berlin?the Indian?the Polish?the London?the Sicilian?the French?

Chess Jingoism and Cosmopolitanism

James Shapiro · August 31, 2026

Country	Opening	National	World	Ratio	Players	Games
France	French
Netherlands	Dutch
United Kingdom	English
United KingdomThe Scotch and the English will be counted under the UK until Scotland formally secedes.	Scotch
Italy	Italian
Italy	Sicilian
India	Indian
Scandinavia	Scandi
MonarchiesAndorraBahrainBelgiumBhutanBruneiCambodiaDenmarkEswatiniJapanJordanKuwaitLesothoLiechtensteinLuxembourgMalaysiaMonacoMoroccoNetherlandsNorwayOmanQatarSaudi ArabiaSpainSwedenThailandTongaUnited Arab EmiratesUnited Kingdom	King's Gambit
MonarchiesAndorraBahrainBelgiumBhutanBruneiCambodiaDenmarkEswatiniJapanJordanKuwaitLesothoLiechtensteinLuxembourgMalaysiaMonacoMoroccoNetherlandsNorwayOmanQatarSaudi ArabiaSpainSwedenThailandTongaUnited Arab EmiratesUnited Kingdom	Queen's Gambit
Germany	Berlin
Poland	Polish
Hungary	Hungarian

Last updated · players · games

Methodology

A crawler picks a random chess.com game from 2026 and looks up each player's ten most recent opponents, then those opponents' ten most recent opponents. For each new player (players already seen are ignored) it pulls their 100 most recent games and tallies up how many of them correspond to each opening.

Every player is weighted equally to obtain the global and national percentages. An opening only counts for the side that chooses it, so the French percentage is the share of a player's games as Black that became a French Defense. Games are classified following the lichess-openings dataset.

Because players are discovered through their opponents, the sample leans toward those who play often. The crawler runs around the clock at 24 requests per minute, and this page displays the latest totals.