Caissa Codex
C20

King's Pawn Game 1. e4 e5

Chess diagram: King's Pawn Game after 1…e5

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

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Statistics from Lichess

529,096,966 games: White 50.8% / Draw 4.4% / Black 44.7%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
King's Knight Opening 340,408,765340.4M
Bishop's Opening 52,748,77152.7M
King's Gambit 48,142,64448.1M
Center Game 31,143,75131.1M
Vienna Game 30,525,42530.5M
Leonardis Variation 9,523,6839.5M
Wayward Queen Attack 3,639,3933.6M
MacLeod Attack 3,465,4943.5M

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 6, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.20 The position is about equal

Best play: 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6

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 47% under 1400, 48% at 2200 and up and 45% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

PlayersGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400 546.4M
1400–1799 592.9M
1800–2199 235.1M
2200 and up 17.7M
Masters, over the board 314K

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 26, 2026

Overview

King's Pawn Game (ECO C20, Open Games) is a chess opening that starts 1. e4 e5.

In 529,096,966 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.8%, Black 44.7% and 4.4% were drawn. White's most played move here is 2. Nf3, in 64% of those games.

It branches into 19 named variations; the most played are King's Knight Opening and Bishop's Opening. In all, 1021 named lines continue from it.

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

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How to answer 1…e5

2. d4 (Center Game) scores best for White: 55.1%, with White winning 53.1% and Black 43.0% of 31.1M games. The most played, 2. Nf3, scores 53.1% in 340.4M games, and 2. Bc4 scores lowest: 52.5%. Stockfish's first choice is 2. 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

This line has stayed between 19.1% and 22.9% of Lichess games a year since 2016 (19.4% in 2025).

Numbers by year
YearShare of gamesGames
201622.9%8,185,372
201720.9%11,480,823
201819.1%14,973,378
201919.2%23,938,781
202020.3%59,485,109
202121.8%85,420,364
202221.1%79,214,220
202320.6%77,643,251
202420.1%71,961,415
202519.4%67,436,276
2026 (Jan–Apr)19.1%20,894,810

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

Variations (19)

All 1021 named lines that continue from here

Loading sub-variations…

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “King's Pawn Game (C20)”. Lichess data as of 6 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-pawn-game-2

https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-pawn-game-2