Sicilian Defense: King David's Opening
1. e4 c5 2. Ke2
The Sicilian Defense: King David's Opening is a chess opening classified as ECO B20, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Ke2. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 112 times by this move order. White won 38%, 6% were drawn and Black won 56%. The most popular continuation is 2… Nc6 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.99 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 2… Nc6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. d3 d5 5. exd5)
- ECO
- B20
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp1ppppp/8/2p5/4P3/8/PPPPKPPP/RNBQ1BNR b kq - 1 2- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Ke2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 41 | |
| 1500-1999 | 46 | |
| 2000+ | 25 | |
| All | 112 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… Nc6 | 50 (45%) | |
| 2… d6 | 15 (13%) | |
| 2… e6 | 13 (12%) | |
| 2… d5 | 12 (11%) | |
| 2… e5 | 6 (5%) | |
| 2… Nf6 | 4 (4%) | |
| 2… b6 | 3 (3%) | |
| 2… g6 | 2 (2%) |
Master games
40 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 57%, draw 3%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2745) – GM So, W. (2767) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 2019 · 2020-02-21
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) – GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara (2644) 0-1 · chess.com SpeedChess 2025 · 2025-10-13
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2847) – GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (2625) 1-0 · Titled Arena Apr 3rd 2021 · 2021-04-03
- GM Nikolas Theodorou (2627) – GM Vladimir Kramnik (2753) 0-1 · Titled Tue 16th Jan Late · 2024-01-16
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) – IM Tuan Minh Le (2514) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 24th Aug · 2021-08-24
Search all games of the Sicilian Defense: King David's Opening and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FossTheCat (2302) – your0wner (2294) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- gleesonhedge (2159) – Sultan_of_Canada (2326) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Krethickplayschess (2421) – Themilk0918 (2044) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense (1. e4 c5) 1. e4 c5
More Sicilian Defense lines (all)
- Sicilian Defense: Amazon Attack B20
- Sicilian Defense: Big Clamp Formation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Bowdler Attack B20
- Sicilian Defense: Brick Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Czerniak Attack B20
- Sicilian Defense: Czerniak Attack, Queen Fianchetto Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Euwe Attack, Prins Gambit B20
- Sicilian Defense: Gloria Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Grob Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Keres Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Kronberger Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Kronberger Variation, Nemeth Gambit B20
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.