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B00Opening

King's Pawn Game

1. e4

a8b7c6d5e4f3g2h1

Black to move

Legal moves
20
Games in the next 4 moves
405,385
Different positions among them
142,191
Named lines from here
2,037

See it on the mapOn the opening map

The most popular first move in chess. 1. e4 claims the centre and opens lines for the queen and the king’s bishop at once; Bobby Fischer called it “best by test”.

It is reached after a single move: 1. e4.

Black is to move and has 20 legal moves. Over the next four moves — two for each side — the game can branch into 405,385 different games. Those games reach 142,191 different positions: most positions can be reached in more than one way, 2.9 on average.

The Lichess opening list names 2,037 further lines after this position, such as Sicilian Defense (1... c5) and French Defense (1... e6).

Map of every game of the next four moves after the King's Pawn Game
Every game of the next four moves from this position, as the map draws it. Each ring is one more move; the outer ring holds all 405,385 games.

Move by move

  1. 1. e4King's Pawn Game

Named lines from here

…and 3 more on the map.

Famous games through this position

The Opera GameMorphy, Paris 1858, move 1Playing from a box at the opera, Morphy mates his two opponents in 17 moves. The Immortal GameAnderssen, London 1851, move 1Anderssen gives up both rooks, a bishop and his queen, then mates with the minor pieces he has left. The Evergreen GameAnderssen, Berlin 1852, move 1Anderssen sacrifices his queen and mates with a bishop; more than 170 years on, the game is still fresh. Kasparov's ImmortalKasparov – Topalov, Wijk aan Zee 1999, move 1A rook sacrifice on move 24 starts a hunt that chases Black's king across the whole board. Deep Blue Beats KasparovDeep Blue – Kasparov, New York 1997, move 1The last game of the first match a computer won against the world champion, over in 19 moves. The Octopus KnightKarpov – Kasparov, Moscow 1985, move 1Kasparov's knight digs in on d3 and paralyses White; that match made him world champion. Steinitz's CombinationSteinitz – von Bardeleben, Hastings 1895, move 1White's rook keeps offering itself on the seventh rank; von Bardeleben walks out rather than wait for the mate. Réti's MateRéti – Tartakower, Vienna 1910, move 1After a queen sacrifice the two bishops finish the game with mate in 11 moves. The Peruvian ImmortalCanal – NN, Budapest 1934, move 1Canal gives up both rooks and his queen and mates in 14 moves. Légal's MateLégal – Saint Brie, Paris 1750, move 1White lets the queen go and mates with three minor pieces; one of the oldest traps in chess. Scholar's MateThe classic trap, move 1Queen and bishop strike together at f7, Black's weakest square.

Related openings

FEN

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