King's Pawn Game: Schulze-Müller Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nxe5 Nxe5 4. d4
The King's Pawn Game: Schulze-Müller Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C44, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nxe5 Nxe5 4. d4. 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 377 times by this move order. White won 30%, 4% were drawn and Black won 66%. The most popular continuation is 4… Ng6 (49% of games).
Engine evaluation: −2.17 (Stockfish, depth 31; best line 4… Ng6 5. Bc4 d5 6. Bxd5 Nf6 7. Bb3)
- ECO
- C44
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/4n3/3PP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nxe5 Nxe5 4. d4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 218 | |
| 1500-1999 | 139 | |
| 2000+ | 20 | |
| All | 377 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Ng6 | 184 (49%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 165 (44%) | |
| 4… Ng4 | 9 (2%) | |
| 4… Nc4 | 6 (2%) | |
| 4… Bb4+ | 4 (1%) | |
| 4… d6 | 3 (1%) | |
| 4… Qh4 | 2 (1%) | |
| 4… Bd6 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
1 over-the-board game is classified under this line (White 0%, draw 0%, Black 100%). The strongest:
- FM Sebastian Poltorak (2391) – CM Timur Dushatov (2228) 0-1 · Titled Tue 25th Jun Early · 2024-06-25
Search all games of the King's Pawn Game: Schulze-Müller Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Byenox007 (2099) – Fares1956 (2219) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 600 + 0s
- k4rp4s0v (2116) – Ayanokoji_Kyotakaa (2118) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Akmol (2118) – kamyar77 (2111) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Irish Gambit 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. 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.