Center Game: Paulsen Attack Variation
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qe3
The Center Game: Paulsen Attack Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C22, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qe3. It is a line of the Center Game. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 16,439 times by this move order. White won 50%, 4% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 4… Nf6 (34% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 62; best line 4… Nf6 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Nc3 d5 7. exd5)
- ECO
- C22
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/2n5/8/4P3/4Q3/PPP2PPP/RNB1KBNR b KQkq - 2 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qe3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 9,095 | |
| 1500-1999 | 5,973 | |
| 2000+ | 1,371 | |
| All | 16,439 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Nf6 Berger Variation | 5,509 (34%) | |
| 4… d6 | 3,514 (21%) | |
| 4… b6 | 2,617 (16%) | |
| 4… Bb4+ | 1,379 (8%) | |
| 4… Qe7 | 548 (3%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 527 (3%) | |
| 4… Qf6 | 385 (2%) | |
| 4… g6 | 378 (2%) |
Master games
761 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 54%, draw 14%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.30-dag-a9b25c2b-BT2-3 (3598) – Stockfish dev-20230409-b36d39d (3639) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-04-11
- Stockfish dev-20230409-b36d39d (3639) – LCZero 0.30-dag-a9b25c2b-BT2-3 (3598) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 24 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-04-11
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2770) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802) 0-1 · chess.com SpeedChess 2024 · 2024-08-09
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2732) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) 0-1 · GCT Blitz YourNextMove · 2017-07-01
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2714) – GM Peter Leko (2731) 1-0 · Tal Memorial Blitz 2014 · 2014-11-13
Search all games of the Center Game: Paulsen Attack Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM AlexTriapishko (2823) – alexlele2008 (2630) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Kingkennytv (2657) – HighQualityO (2676) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Kingkennytv (2656) – whopper211 (2670) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Center Game: Normal Variation 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6
Continuations
- Center Game: Berger Variation C22 · 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qe3 Nf6
- Center Game: l'Hermet Variation C22 · 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qe3 f5
- Center Game: Charousek Variation C22 · 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qe3 Bb4+ 5. c3 Be7
More Center Game lines (all)
- Center Game (1… e5 2. d4) C20
- Center Game (2… exd4 3. Qxd4) C21
- Center Game: Halasz-McDonnell Gambit C21
- Center Game: Halasz-McDonnell Gambit, Crocodile Variation C21
- Center Game: Kieseritzky Variation (2… exd4 3. Nf3) C21
- Center Game: Kieseritzky Variation (3. Nf3 c5) C21
- Center Game: Kieseritzky Variation (3… c5 4. Bc4) C21
- Center Game: Lanc-Arnold Gambit C21
- Center Game: Lanc-Arnold Gambit, Schippler Gambit C21
- Center Game: Ross Gambit C21
- Center Game: von der Lasa Gambit C21
- Center Game: Hall Variation C22
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.