King's Knight Opening: Konstantinopolsky
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. g3
The King's Knight Opening: Konstantinopolsky is a chess opening classified as ECO C44, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. g3. It is a line of the King's Knight Opening. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4,105 times by this move order. White won 47%, 4% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 3… Nf6 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.15 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 3… Nf6 4. Nc3 Bc5 5. Bg2 d6 6. d3)
- ECO
- C44
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/2n5/4p3/4P3/5NP1/PPPP1P1P/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. g3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2,617 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,314 | |
| 2000+ | 174 | |
| All | 4,105 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Nf6 | 1,860 (45%) | |
| 3… Bc5 | 1,143 (28%) | |
| 3… d6 | 444 (11%) | |
| 3… d5 | 180 (4%) | |
| 3… f5 | 99 (2%) | |
| 3… h6 | 74 (2%) | |
| 3… g6 | 53 (1%) | |
| 3… b6 | 41 (1%) |
Master games
857 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 47%, draw 22%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- GM Veselin Topalov (2772) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2881) 0-1 · 2nd Norway Blitz 2014 · 2014-06-02
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2872) – GM Levon Aronian (2775) 0-1 · 11th London Classic 2019 · 2019-12-08
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2750) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2864) 1-0 · Charity Cup KO 2022 · 2022-03-26
- GM Veselin Topalov (2772) – GM Levon Aronian (2815) 0-1 · 2nd Norway Blitz 2014 · 2014-06-02
- GM Gukesh D (2763) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2796) 0-1 · SuperUnited CRO Blitz 2024 · 2024-07-14
Search all games of the King's Knight Opening: Konstantinopolsky and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Sobino106 (2798) – NM Andrey11976 (2797) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Sobino106 (2784) – NM Andrey11976 (2809) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- IM Jamorris94 (2777) – umbrella01 (2760) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Knight Opening: Normal Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6
More King's Knight Opening 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.