King's Pawn Game: Alapin Opening
1. e4 e5 2. Ne2
The King's Pawn Game: Alapin Opening is a chess opening classified as ECO C20, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Ne2. It is a line of the King's Pawn Game. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4,017 times by this move order. White won 47%, 4% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 2… Nc6 (38% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.09 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 2… Bc5 3. Nbc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4)
- ECO
- C20
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/4p3/4P3/8/PPPPNPPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 1 2- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Ne2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,773 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,954 | |
| 2000+ | 290 | |
| All | 4,017 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… Nc6 | 1,536 (38%) | |
| 2… Nf6 | 1,084 (27%) | |
| 2… Bc5 | 411 (10%) | |
| 2… d6 | 386 (10%) | |
| 2… d5 | 215 (5%) | |
| 2… Qf6 | 66 (2%) | |
| 2… f5 | 57 (1%) | |
| 2… Qh4 | 39 (1%) |
Master games
109 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 17%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2738) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) 0-1 · GCT Blitz YourNextMove · 2017-07-02
- GM Richard Rapport (2776) – GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2753) 1/2-1/2 · Superbet Classic 2022 · 2022-05-09
- GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2738) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2786) 1-0 · GCT Blitz YourNextMove · 2017-07-02
- GM Richard Rapport (2762) – GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre (2601) 1-0 · Bundesliga 2021-22 · 2022-07-08
- GM Jorden Van Foreest (2701) – GM Mateusz Bartel (2619) 0-1 · Lindores Abbey Tal Mem · 2021-11-08
Search all games of the King's Pawn Game: Alapin Opening and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- kasparik_garik (2666) – GM AtalikS (2632) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Predator_1988 (2478) – DiabloDiabloDiablo (2612) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- denlogrendehund (2536) – KM2200 (2507) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Pawn Game (1. e4 e5) 1. e4 e5
More King's Pawn Game lines (all)
- King's Pawn Game (1. e4) B00
- King's Pawn Game: Maróczy Defense B07
- King's Pawn Game: Bavarian Gambit C20
- King's Pawn Game: Beyer Gambit C20
- King's Pawn Game: Clam Variation, King's Gambit Reversed C20
- King's Pawn Game: Clam Variation, Radisch Gambit C20
- King's Pawn Game: King's Head Opening (1… e5 2. f3) C20
- King's Pawn Game: King's Head Opening (2… Nf6 3. Nc3) C20
- King's Pawn Game: Leonardis Variation C20
- King's Pawn Game: MacLeod Attack C20
- King's Pawn Game: MacLeod Attack, Lasa Gambit C20
- King's Pawn Game: MacLeod Attack, Norwalde Gambit C20
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.