King's Pawn Game: Damiano Defense
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f6
The King's Pawn Game: Damiano Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C40, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f6. It is a line of the King's Pawn Game. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 24,493 times by this move order. White won 56%, 4% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 3. Bc4 (39% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.62 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 3. Nxe5 Qe7 4. Nf3 Qxe4+ 5. Be2 d5)
- ECO
- C40
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp2pp/5p2/4p3/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 21,603 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,670 | |
| 2000+ | 220 | |
| All | 24,493 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Bc4 | 9,460 (39%) | |
| 3. d4 | 5,089 (21%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 4,497 (18%) | |
| 3. Nxe5 | 2,359 (10%) | |
| 3. c3 | 737 (3%) | |
| 3. d3 | 651 (3%) | |
| 3. Bb5 | 399 (2%) | |
| 3. Nh4 | 217 (1%) |
Master games
116 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 72%, draw 1%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- GM Jeffery Xiong (2636) – IM Aaron Jacobson (2368) 1-0 · Titled Tue 19th Nov Late · 2024-11-19
- GM Gata Kamsky (2609) – IM Aaron Jacobson (2368) 1-0 · Titled Tue 19th Nov Late · 2024-11-19
- IM Dau Khuong Duy (2411) – Antoni Kozak (2426) 0-1 · Titled Tue 4th Feb Early · 2025-02-04
- FM Ivan Martic (2261) – GM David Brodsky (2538) 0-1 · Titled Tue 19th Nov Early · 2024-11-19
- GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (2380) – FM Anatoly Krutko (2397) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 23rd Mar · 2021-03-23
Search all games of the King's Pawn Game: Damiano Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- MasonGreeenwood11 (2603) – ZZZ2026 (2407) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 600 + 0s
- Stallion28 (2537) – bobbystruk (2452) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- hierasousse (2553) – noahjb (2384) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Knight Opening 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3
Continuations
- King's Pawn Game: Damiano Defense, Damiano Gambit, Chigorin Gambit C40 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f6 3. Nxe5 Qe7 4. Nf3 d5
- King's Pawn Game: Damiano Defense, Damiano Gambit C40 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f6 3. Nxe5 fxe5 4. Qh5+ g6 5. Qxe5+ Qe7 6. Qxh8
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 (1. e4 e5) C20
- King's Pawn Game: Alapin Opening C20
- 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
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.