Where chess pieces are most often captured

Jun 2, 2021

Reddit user desfirsit made heatmaps to show where on the chess board pieces are usually captured. The top two rows are for black pieces, and the bottom row is for white pieces.

I’m no chess player, but this seems to look right? The frequency of captures appears to agree with movement patterns. Although I’m surprised that the queen, despite having the most freedom of movement, is often captured in the same place. But like I said, I’m no chess player.

You can grab the data from Lichess, which provides data for millions of chess games.

Become a member. Support an independent site. Get extra visualization goodness.

See What You Get

Favorites

Guessing Names Based on What They Start With

I’m terrible at names, but maybe data can help. Put in your sex, the decade when you were born, and start putting in your name. I’ll try to guess before you’re done.

10 Best Data Visualization Projects of 2015

These are my picks for the best of 2015. As usual, they could easily appear in a different order on a different day, and there are projects not on the list that were also excellent.

Who We Spend Time with as We Get Older

In high school, we spend most of our days with friends and immediate family. But then we get jobs, start a family, retire, and there’s a shift in who we spend our days with.

How We Spend Our Money, a Breakdown

We know spending changes when you have more money. Here’s by how much.