Center Game (1… e5 2. d4)

1. e4 e5 2. d4

The Center Game is a chess opening classified as ECO C20, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. d4. 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 212,250 times by this move order. White won 52%, 3% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 2… exd4 (64% of games).

Engine evaluation: −0.11 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 2… exd4 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 Nc6 5. Bd3)

ECO: C20
Moves: 3 plies
FEN: rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/4p3/3PP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2
PGN: 1. e4 e5 2. d4

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	118,370	51%45%
1500-1999	83,006	53%44%
2000+	10,874	51%43%
All	212,250	52%45%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
2… exd4 Center Game Accepted	136,805 (64%)	50%46%
2… Nc6	28,115 (13%)	53%43%
2… d6	15,362 (7%)	51%44%
2… Nf6	6,907 (3%)	52%44%
2… d5 Beyer Gambit	6,478 (3%)	55%40%
2… f6	5,982 (3%)	60%37%
2… Qf6	2,669 (1%)	51%45%
2… Bd6	1,976 (1%)	56%40%

Master games

439 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 59%, draw 11%, Black 30%). The strongest:

GM Alireza Firouzja (2749) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2862) 0-1 · Magnus-Alireza 27th Feb · 2021-02-27
GM Alireza Firouzja (2737) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2794) 1-0 · Bullet Chess Winners 2024 · 2024-06-13
GM Roeland Pruijssers (2565) – GM Nikola Mitkov (2514) 1-0 · Club Caissa Online 2022 · 2022-01-22
IM Yoseph Theolifus Taher (2455) – GM Naroditsky, D. (2621) 0-1 · Katara Bullet Final 2020 · 2020-08-26
FM Lucas Cumpe (2366) – GM Samuel Sevian (2688) 0-1 · 3rd 3-0 Thu 18th Dec 2025 · 2025-12-18

Search all games of the Center Game and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

FM Guary1 (2852) – GladiatorDefence (2796) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Superstitions_Guy (2853) – Chess1Love0 (2788) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Superstitions_Guy (2814) – Chess1Love0 (2793) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

King's Pawn Game (1. e4 e5) 1. e4 e5

Continuations

Center Game Accepted C21 · 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4
King's Pawn Game: Beyer Gambit C20 · 1. e4 e5 2. d4 d5
King's Pawn Game: Philidor Gambit C20 · 1. e4 e5 2. d4 d6 3. dxe5 Bd7

More Center Game lines (all)

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.