Misleading Sheep-driven Online Openings explorers everyone should be aware of :)

Hi all
A few months ago, I thought that the Lichess.org opening explorer had a bug in it because I reasoned it did not match the Chessgames.com opening explorer or Chessbase, etc - it turns out, it is actually less misleading. I cannot hold this secret any longer. Especially given I have found a funny Capablanca quotation which is:

" Where openings are concerned, chess masters are like a flock of sheep; everyone follows the first master's example. Of course it is true that, as in everything, there are exceptions. It must always be remembered that White can hope only to obtain a positional advantage and not a game that is relatively easy to win." - Capablanca

It seems that you can run a very simple test to expose the misleading "sheep nature" of many online databases.

Example test

Test this:
1.Nc3 e5 ( a bad move)
2.Nf3 is the best move here

Check the Masters tab of the Lichess opening explorer which in my view is the absolute best resource for master game analysis now:

https://lichess.org/analysis#explorer

And Lichess does emphasize indeed 2.Nf3 which is what it SHOULD - so congrats Lichess!

And yes I must say this was also emphasised recently when I checked out IM Lawrence's promo video of the 1.Nc3 system. Credit to him for highlighting e5 as a major problem. Also Wiki indicates this as well:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunst_Opening

"1...e5

This natural move is probably playable, but already a slight inaccuracy as White maintains an opening advantage in all lines"

The reason that other databases including Chessgames.com show 2.e4
e.g.

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/explorer?node=29427&move=2&moves=Nc3.e5&nodes=29426.29427

is because of transposition and wanting to show the most games. The thing is, I find this kind of misleading. So much so, that I myself with 1.Nc3 was playing after e5 2.e4 and just making use of my Vienna game knowledge. The alignment to top engine choices is actually with Lichess master's database.

Sheep herding effects

The alignment to Sheep and` Sheep herding seems to be with most other databases.
I thought I should point this out as a public service announcement and observation. You can thank me later. I am not completely convinced this was common knowledge and maybe you were re-assured in your choices by the quantity of games - but be aware that isn't necessarily the move you should really play especially because of the transpositional bias.

Researchers may also be convincing themselves that 2.Nf3 has a sample size which is much less and cannot be trusted - but in fact those are really from the games with true experts playing to the nuances of the position - i.e. engine alignment for the best move.

In Conclusion

Stop being Sheep guys - check for engine alignment, and the winning percentage. Factor in sample size sure - but be aware of the transpositional bias herding you like Sheep!

Want to go further? Explore all my online chess courses at https://www.chessworld.net/online-chess-courses.asp – learn openings, tactics, strategy, and more.

Cheers, K