King's Pawn Game: Maróczy Defense
1. e4 d6 2. d4 e5
The King's Pawn Game: Maróczy Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO B07, reached after 1. e4 d6 2. d4 e5. It is a line of the King's Pawn Game. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 10,321 times by this move order. White won 49%, 6% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 3. dxe5 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.72 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 3. Nf3 exd4 4. Nxd4 Be7 5. Nc3 Nf6)
- ECO
- B07
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/3p4/4p3/3PP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 d6 2. d4 e5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3,276 | |
| 1500-1999 | 5,349 | |
| 2000+ | 1,696 | |
| All | 10,321 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. dxe5 | 5,156 (50%) | |
| 3. d5 | 2,437 (24%) | |
| 3. Nf3 | 1,545 (15%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 426 (4%) | |
| 3. c3 | 327 (3%) | |
| 3. Bc4 | 108 (1%) | |
| 3. Be3 | 81 (1%) | |
| 3. f4 | 65 (1%) |
Master games
974 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 51%, draw 15%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2750) – GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara (2644) 0-1 · FIDE World Cup 2025 · 2025-11-07
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2773) – GM Luca Jr Moroni (2588) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 1st Feb B · 2022-02-02
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2764) – GM Luca Jr Moroni (2588) 0-1 · Titled Tue 15th Feb Early · 2022-02-15
- GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (2693) – GM Tamas Banusz (2623) 1-0 · Titled Tue 7th May Early · 2024-05-07
- GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2751) – GM Luca Jr Moroni (2563) 1-0 · Titled Tue 10th Feb 2026 · 2026-02-10
Search all games of the King's Pawn Game: Maróczy Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GeForceExperience (2630) – IM AlexTriapishko (2817) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- CM Mikkel_Vinh (2661) – gammadrill (2595) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- feetquestionwhither (2647) – CM The_chess_child (2590) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Pirc Defense (1… d6 2. d4) 1. e4 d6 2. d4
More King's Pawn Game lines (all)
- King's Pawn Game (1. e4) B00
- 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
- King's Pawn Game: MacLeod Attack, Lasa 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.