King's Pawn Game: King's Head Opening (1… e5 2. f3)
1. e4 e5 2. f3
The King's Pawn Game: King's Head Opening is a chess opening classified as ECO C20, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. f3. 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 10,632 times by this move order. White won 41%, 5% were drawn and Black won 54%. The most popular continuation is 2… Nc6 (36% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.65 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 2… Bc5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nge2 d5 5. exd5)
- ECO
- C20
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/4p3/4P3/5P2/PPPP2PP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. f3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 8,495 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,974 | |
| 2000+ | 163 | |
| All | 10,632 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… Nc6 | 3,834 (36%) | |
| 2… Nf6 | 2,161 (20%) | |
| 2… Bc5 | 1,269 (12%) | |
| 2… d6 | 1,184 (11%) | |
| 2… d5 | 689 (6%) | |
| 2… Qh4+ | 242 (2%) | |
| 2… Qf6 | 225 (2%) | |
| 2… f6 | 209 (2%) |
Master games
44 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 34%, draw 7%, Black 59%). The strongest:
- IM Gianmarco Leiva (2398) – GM Vladislav Kovalev (2582) 0-1 · Titled Tue 12th Dec Early · 2023-12-12
- CM Sarveshwaran V (2290) – GM Jan Gustafsson (2591) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 26th Aug Early · 2025-08-26
- IM Gianmarco Leiva (2381) – Qingyu Yuan (2373) 0-1 · Titled Tue 31st Jan Late · 2023-01-31
- FM Dias Issabayev (2203) – WGM Jiner Zhu (2498) 0-1 · Titled Tue 22nd Aug Early · 2023-08-22
- WIM K Priyanka (2218) – IM Karina Cyfka (2411) 1-0 · Women's Speed Chess Q5 · 2020-06-22
Search all games of the King's Pawn Game: King's Head Opening and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Qotpulzaman (2422) – AMBMCM (2532) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 600 + 0s
- Qotpulzaman (2477) – ChessCoach2027 (2400) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 600 + 0s
- Qotpulzaman (2355) – FM DiogenesSinopeus (2480) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Pawn Game (1. e4 e5) 1. e4 e5
Continuations
- King's Pawn Game: King's Head Opening (2… Nf6 3. Nc3) C20 · 1. e4 e5 2. f3 Nf6 3. Nc3
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: 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: 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
- King's Pawn Game: Mengarini's Opening 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.