C24

Bishop's Opening: Paulsen Defense

Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.

Statistics from Lichess

922,368 games: White 45.4% / Draw 4.3% / Black 50.3%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	228,613229K
	162,213162K
	143,130143K
	91,39091K
	60,41860K
	57,07557K
	48,40848K
	45,03045K

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.06 The position is about equal

Best play: 4. Nf3 d5 5. Bb3 a5 6. a4 Bb4+ 7. c3 Bd6 8. O-O O-O

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

By rating

Rating changes little here: Black scores 49% under 1400, 50% at 2200 and up and 45% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	466K
1400–1799	822K
1800–2199	440K
2200 and up	58K
Masters, over the board	2,820

Master games

Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 27, 2026

Overview

Bishop's Opening: Paulsen Defense (ECO C24, Open Games) is a variation of the Bishop's Opening: Berlin Defense, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 c6 (3 moves).

In 922,368 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 45.4%, Black 50.3% and 4.3% were drawn. White's most played move here is 4. Nf3, in 25% of those games.

Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.

Write a description or report a mistake

What would you like to send? A description of this line A mistake on this page (moves, name, statistics…)

Markdown supported (headings ###, bold, lists, links). Submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Your name (optional) Your email (optional, not published)

Description

How to play against the Bishop's Opening: Paulsen Defense

The most played answer, 4. Nf3, also scores best for White: 49.8%, with White winning 47.3% and Black 47.8% of 229K games. Of the main answers, 4. a3 scores lowest: 44.9%. Stockfish's first choice is also 4. Nf3.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings

Popularity by year

The Bishop's Opening: Paulsen Defense has lost ground since 2016: 0.036% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.044%.

0.044%0.036%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.044%	15,737
2017	0.039%	21,489
2018	0.036%	27,943
2019	0.033%	41,441
2020	0.032%	93,858
2021	0.035%	135,934
2022	0.036%	136,250
2023	0.036%	136,249
2024	0.037%	130,933
2025	0.036%	124,497
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.037%	40,171

Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Bishop's Opening: Paulsen Defense (C24)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/bishops-opening-paulsen-defense