King's Pawn Game (1. e4)
1. e4
The King's Pawn Game is a chess opening classified as ECO B00, reached after 1. e4. Black is to move. 19 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 7,755,658 times by this move order. White won 50%, 4% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 1… e5 (43% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.18 (Stockfish, depth 70; best line 1… e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O)
- ECO
- B00
- Moves
- 1 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 1- PGN
1. e4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3,362,711 | |
| 1500-1999 | 3,633,532 | |
| 2000+ | 759,415 | |
| All | 7,755,658 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1… e5 King's Pawn Game (1. e4 e5) | 3,350,565 (43%) | |
| 1… c5 Sicilian Defense (1. e4 c5) | 1,231,664 (16%) | |
| 1… d5 Scandinavian Defense (1. e4 d5) | 777,992 (10%) | |
| 1… e6 French Defense (1. e4 e6) | 742,960 (10%) | |
| 1… c6 Caro-Kann Defense (1. e4 c6) | 675,625 (9%) | |
| 1… d6 Pirc Defense (1. e4 d6) | 304,979 (4%) | |
| 1… g6 Modern Defense (1. e4 g6) | 210,324 (3%) | |
| 1… b6 Owen Defense | 138,927 (2%) |
Master games
5,135 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 97%, draw 1%, Black 2%). The strongest:
- GM Daniil Dubov (2720) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) 1-0 · World Blitz 2021 · 2021-12-30
- GM Ray Robson (2673) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2774) 1-0 · PRO League KO Stage 2020 · 2020-03-05
- GM Jeffery Xiong (2692) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2736) 1/2-1/2 · AimChess Rapid Play-In · 2023-06-12
- GM Gata Kamsky (2665) – GM So, W. (2760) 1-0 · Titled Tue 11th Apr Early · 2023-04-11
- GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2627) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2777) 1/2-1/2 · Speed Chess Super Swiss · 2020-10-03
Search all games of the King's Pawn Game and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Nana_jede_cevape (2866) – GM gmbrewchess (3010) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Nana_jede_cevape (2871) – GM gmbrewchess (3002) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Nana_jede_cevape (2871) – GM gmbrewchess (3002) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Continuations
- Alekhine Defense (1. e4 Nf6) B02 · 1. e4 Nf6
- Barnes Defense B00 · 1. e4 f6
- Borg Defense B00 · 1. e4 g5
- Caro-Kann Defense (1. e4 c6) B10 · 1. e4 c6
- Carr Defense B00 · 1. e4 h6
- Duras Gambit B00 · 1. e4 f5
- French Defense (1. e4 e6) C00 · 1. e4 e6
- Goldsmith Defense B00 · 1. e4 h5
- Hippopotamus Defense (1. e4 Nh6) B00 · 1. e4 Nh6
- King's Pawn Game (1. e4 e5) C20 · 1. e4 e5
- Lemming Defense B00 · 1. e4 Na6
- Modern Defense (1. e4 g6) B06 · 1. e4 g6
- Nimzowitsch Defense (1. e4 Nc6) B00 · 1. e4 Nc6
- Owen Defense B00 · 1. e4 b6
- Pirc Defense (1. e4 d6) B00 · 1. e4 d6
- Scandinavian Defense (1. e4 d5) B01 · 1. e4 d5
- Sicilian Defense (1. e4 c5) B20 · 1. e4 c5
- St. George Defense B00 · 1. e4 a6
- Ware Defense B00 · 1. e4 a5
More King's Pawn Game lines (all)
- 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: 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
- King's Pawn Game: MacLeod Attack, Norwalde 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.