For the Powerbook Unusual Lines 2022, 649,000 games from the engine room were used, plus 51,000 games from the Mega Database 2022 and the Correspondence Database 2022, together over 700,000 game starts. To ensure a high reliability of the statistics, the recording threshold for the games was set at 2350. The ECO codes A00-A09 include the respectable moves 1.Sf3 and 1.b3 as well as the harmless game beginnings 1.g3, 1.f4, 1.b4, 1.a3 and 1.e3. But one can also study such dubious moves as 1.g4, 1.Sa3 etc. in large numbers.
1.b3 is in the repertoire of many top players - not as a permanent weapon, of course, but as a surprise move for certain situations. After the main moves 1...e5 2.Lb2 Sc6 3.e3 Sf6, 4.Sf3 stands out with better statistics compared to 4.c4 (main move in the engine room) and 4.Lb5 (preferred by people).
The position after 4...e4 5.Sd4 Sxd4 6.Lxd4 is still shown in the Powerbook on the basis of almost 5000 games (compared to just under 500 in the online database). Incidentally, Black has to be careful here, because the popular 6...d5 already gives White a small plus after 7.c4! as the black centre proves to be vulnerable.