So on the news, they showed the opening of the Danish Masters tournament. The time came, the "gentlemen, start your engines" was announced, and then "PLAY!".
And then it happened, nothing.
I should say that I don't play chess. I know how the pieces basically move, and have sufficient intellectual interest in seeing something like this played, that I do watch the big grand master games when they are shown, (rarely). It is always the same though.
The clocks start ticking, and the players sit there like they've no idea what to do.
Yet, I know there are well known openings, and well known defences against them. Indeed, the higher up in the game you go, the further back in time matches are analysed.
So you know that x is playing the 1935 Hoi Sin variant of the King Prawn opening and y is defending it with the Dodgy Curry variant of the Indian defence.
My point is that in the top games, it can be 20-30 moves into the game before anything new is played.
So if you have prepared an opening, why sit there thinking about the first move? Or the second, or any of them as long as your opponent plays the response you've prepared? Why waste the clock now, when you may need that time later?