King's Pawn Game: Dresden Opening
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c4
The King's Pawn Game: Dresden Opening is a chess opening classified as ECO C44, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c4. It is a line of the King's Pawn Game. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,320 times by this move order. White won 46%, 4% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 3… Nf6 (42% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.34 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 3… Bc5 4. a3 d6 5. d3 a5 6. Be3)
- ECO
- C44
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/2n5/4p3/2P1P3/5N2/PP1P1PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,340 | |
| 1500-1999 | 904 | |
| 2000+ | 76 | |
| All | 2,320 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Nf6 | 978 (42%) | |
| 3… Bc5 | 775 (33%) | |
| 3… d6 | 232 (10%) | |
| 3… f5 | 68 (3%) | |
| 3… Bb4 | 53 (2%) | |
| 3… h6 | 39 (2%) | |
| 3… Nd4 | 37 (2%) | |
| 3… a6 | 30 (1%) |
Master games
62 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 16%, Black 45%). The strongest:
- FM Jose Antonio Herrera Reyes (2345) – GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2610) 0-1 · 55th Biel Master Open · 2022-07-21
- FM Artin Ashraf (2470) – IM Sathvik Adiga (2400) 1-0 · 1st 3-0 Thu 14th May 2026 · 2026-05-14
- FM Jeronimo Hernandez Jimenez (2166) – GM Bassem Amin (2667) 0-1 · Titled Tue 27th Aug Late · 2024-08-27
- FM Jose Antonio Herrera Reyes (2319) – GM Vladimir Petkov (2492) 1-0 · 3rd La Palma GM 2022 · 2022-04-13
- FM Jose Antonio Herrera Reyes (2345) – CM Prraneeth Vuppala (2457) 0-1 · 55th Biel Master Open · 2022-07-19
Search all games of the King's Pawn Game: Dresden Opening and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- tulumsanatcisi (2411) – Jackson_Carbonara (2372) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- StolyarovS (2455) – MarkusSpuelt (2324) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Sundgau (2411) – FearlessLion (2281) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 300 + 3s
Comes from
King's Knight Opening: Normal Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6
Continuations
- Dresden Opening: The Goblin C44 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c4 Nf6 4. Nxe5
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.