C44

King's Pawn Game: Tayler Opening

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Statistics from Lichess

991,312 games: White 47.5% / Draw 4.8% / Black 47.8%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	437,979438K
	340,967341K
	93,39393K
	24,28024K
	23,01623K
	19,92720K
	13,13713K
	7,9207,920

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

Engine evaluation

−0.12 The position is about equal

Best play: 3... Nf6 4. Nc3 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Bb5 Nxc3 7. bxc3 Bd6 8. d4

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

By rating

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

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	878K
1400–1799	1.3M
1800–2199	368K
2200 and up	18K
Masters, over the board	278

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

King's Pawn Game: Tayler Opening (ECO C44, Open Games) is a variation of the King's Knight Opening: Normal Variation, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Be2 (3 moves).

In 991,312 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 47.5%, Black 47.8% and 4.8% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 3…Nf6, in 44% of those games.

It branches into 2 named variations; the most played is King's Pawn Game: Tayler Opening, Inverted Hanham. In all, 3 named lines continue from it.

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Description

How to play against the King's Pawn Game: Tayler Opening

The most played answer, 3…Nf6, also scores best for Black: 50.8%, with Black winning 48.3% and White 46.7% of 438K games. Of the main answers, 3…d6 scores lowest: 47.6%. Stockfish's first choice is also 3…Nf6.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black'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 King's Pawn Game: Tayler Opening has lost ground since 2016: 0.036% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.06%.

0.06%0.036%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.06%	21,389
2017	0.053%	29,283
2018	0.04%	31,495
2019	0.036%	44,791
2020	0.037%	108,083
2021	0.039%	153,599
2022	0.04%	150,815
2023	0.038%	141,827
2024	0.037%	133,476
2025	0.036%	123,224
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.033%	36,241

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 (2)

All 3 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “King's Pawn Game: Tayler Opening (C44)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-pawn-game-tayler-opening