King's Pawn Opening

King's Pawn opening
	a b c d e f g h 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h
	Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR
	Moves: 1. e4
	ECO code: B00–B99, C00–99
	Parent: Starting position
	Responses: ; 1...c5 - Sicilian Defence; 1...e5 - Open Game; 1...e6 - French Defence; 1...c6 - Caro-Kann Defence; 1...d5 - Scandinavian Defence; 1...d6 - Pirc Defence; 1...g6 - Modern Defence;

1. e4 · King's Pawn opening

Best by test.

— Bobby Fischer^[1]

1. e4, the King's Pawn Opening, is the most popular first move at all levels of the game. 1. e4 opens lines to develop the queen and the king's bishop. It also fights for control of the centre.

1. e4 directly controls d5 and f5, which may or may not be relevant later because Black, if they wanted, to could just take those squares away again by playing 1...e6. If White wants to develop some pieces, the most important square they control by playing 1. e4 is, in fact, the e4 square itself: as long as there's a white pawn on e4, there can't be a black pawn on e4, which means White's g1-knight can be developed to f3 without fear of getting kicked away by a pawn and losing a tempo.

Black has several ways to respond. The main idea is to find a way to prevent White for achieving or maintaining a two-pawn centre with both e4 and d4. They may try to:

Control the d4 square.
Attack White's e4 pawn directly.
Prepare to establish their own pawn on d5.
Let White build a centre but prepare to undermine it later.

Control d4

If Black can control d4 with a pawn, then it will be hard for White to establish pawns on both d4 and e4 and keep them there.

Black has two pawn pushes that control the d4 square: 1...e5 the Open game, and 1...c5 the Sicilian defence. It is no accident that these are the most popular continuations at all levels.^[2]

1...e5 lets Black take space in the centre. It is the classical reply: traditionally 1. e4 openings are divided into 1...e5, the Open game, and the rest, the Semi-Open games. Now if 2. d4, Black can take it and prevent White from controlling all that central space.

Just as 1. e4 helps White White to indirectly control the e4 square, 1...e5 prevents White from playing 2. e5, and so ensures Black can develop their knight to f6.

White's argument is that moving first in a symmetrical position is eventually going to favour the player moving first. White's usual continuation is 2. Nf3, a threat to eliminate the e5 pawn so that they may play d4 securely.

1...c5 is the mainline in master-level games today. If White plays d4, Black can take it with the flank c pawn, keeping their two more important central pawns. An asymmetric opening, it is thought of as more combative than 1...e5.

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Open game

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Sicilian defence

Attack e4

Black can confront White's e-pawn immediately to open up the centre.

1...d5 is the Scandinavian defence. Black intends to eliminate White's centre, even if they have to give up hopes of a big centre of their own. It is less popular in tournament play than as a club-level reply. where part of its appeal is that it is very forcing and confrontational. White's response is almost always 2. exd5, then Black can recover the pawn if they so choose.

1...f5? is the risky Duras gambit. 2. exf5 and Black has succeeded in deflecting the e pawn away from the centre, but at the cost of a weakened kingside.

1...Nf6, the Alekhine defence, also attacks e4, but White will rarely allow Black to take it. It usually continues 2. e5 (kicking knight) Nd5 3. d4. Black's real idea is to allow White the centre for now and undermine it later.

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Scandinavian game

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Duras gambit

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Alekhine defence

Support d5

If Black can play a pawn to d5 and keep it there, they get to hold onto a share of the centre. If Black tries to put a pawn on d5 immediately, White will capture it (the Scandinavian defence, above), so in order to maintain a pawn on d5 Black needs to be able to recapture with a pawn from either c6 or e6.

1...e6 is the French defence. After 2. d4 d5, Black keeps a share of the centre, and White's continuations include opening the position with exd5 exd5, or closing the position with e5. The key disadvantage of the French defence is that Black's bishop is a liability and hard to develop, because the e6 pawn blocks it in.

1...c6 is the Caro-Kann. This has the advantage of avoiding the unhappy French bishop, but instead it takes the c6 square away from Black's knight, and if Black should want to play c5 later, they have lost a tempo.

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

French defence

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Caro-Kann

Relinquish the centre

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Position in the Pirc defence after 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. e5 dxe5 4. dxe5 Qxd1+ 5. Kxd1 Ng4!

Black can relinquish control of the centre for now, looking to develop pieces instead. They want to later undermine the centre, and control it from afar with their pieces rather than their pawns.

One way Black can control the centre from afar is by fianchettoing a bishop (developing it to the flank, to either g7 or b7, where it controls a long diagonal running through the centre).

1...g6 is the Modern defence. Black's will follow with Bg7 to control a swathe of the centre before making more committal pawn moves.

1...b6 is Owen's defence. Black intends Bb7 to control the other long diagonal. Unlike the Modern, this doesn't have the benefit of preparing kingside castling.

1...d6 is the Pirc defence. Black would like to play Nf6 to control the centre. d6 is prophylaxis to prevent White from playing e5: after 1...d6 2. d4 Nf6, the move 3. e5 doesn't work because of 3...dxe5 4. dxe5 Qxd1+ 5. Kxd1 Ng4! forking the pawns on e5 and f2 (contrast 1...Nf6, the Alekhine defence). Black usually fianchettos the bishop to Bg7 in this opening as well.

1...Nc6, the Nimzowitsch defence, develops the knight to control d4 and e5. This allows 2. d4, and then Black can choose to respond with either 2...d5 or 2...e5.

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Modern defence

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Owen's defence

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Pirc defence

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Nimzowitsch defence

Rare responses

Other responses include:

1...a6, the St. George defence, mostly famous for having been played by Tony Miles against then World Champion Anatoly Karpov. Often Black will follow up with 2...b5, expanding on the queenside.
1...f6?, the Barnes Defence. A rare move that is not a good idea, as it removes the f6 square for the knight and weakens the kingside. Even so, Thomas Wilson Barnes (after whom it is named) beat Paul Morphy, one of the most influential grandmasters in the 19th century, with this opening. Its only benefit is that it gets out of theory.
1...g5?, the Borg Defence (opposite of Grob) is another option Black has, however it is a bad one because it does weaken the kingside severely. The g5-pawn can serve as a hook for White (h4) later on. This also can lead to a Fool's Mate for Black.
1...a5?!, the Ware Defence is equally weak as 1...h5. It just wastes a tempo.
1...h5?!, the Pickering Defence simply wastes a tempo and weakens Black's position.
1...h6?!, the Carr Defence, is another time-wasting move, but it usually transposes into the Borg Defence anyways after 2. d4 g5.
1...Na6?! develops the b8-knight to an inferior square.
1...Nh6?! develops the g8-knight to an inferior square.
1...b5? simply loses a pawn to 2. Bxb5.

Statistics

Approximate chances: White win 39%, Draw 29%, Black win 32%.

Estimated next move popularity: c5 39%, e5 26%, e6 12%, c6 8%, d5 4%, d6 4%, g6 3%, Nf6 2%, Nc6 1%, b6 1%, other moves less than 0.5%.

move	average	365Chess.com (big)	Chess Tempo (all)	chessgames.com	Lichess (masters)	Lichess (database)
1...c5	39.1%	41.4	43.0	41.2	46.3	23.4
1...e5	25.9	24.0	22.2	28.6	22.7	31.8
1...e6	12.4	13.1	12.9	12.0	12.1	11.8
1...c6	7.8	7.4	8.2	7.4	7.8	8.3
1...d5	4.1	3.5	3.2	2.0	2.0	9.9
1...d6	4.0	4.3	4.3	3.5	3.6	4.3
1...g6	3.1	3.0	3.0	2.7	2.9	3.9
1...Nf6	2.1	2.3	2.1	1.8	1.8	2.5
1...Nc6	0.8	0.7	0.7	0.5	0.5	1.4
1...b6	0.6	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.2	2.0
1...a6	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.3
1...f5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2
everything else	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3

Theory table

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation.

1. e4

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Evaluation
Sicilian Defence	... c5	Nf3 d6	d4 cxd4	Nxd4 Nf6	Nc3 a6	Be3 e5	Nb3 Be6	f3 Be7	Qd2 O-O	+/=
Ruy Lopez	... e5	Nf3 Nc6	Bb5 a6	Ba4 Nf6	O-O Be7	Re1 b5	Bb3 d6	c3 Na5	Bc2 c5	+/-
French Defence	... e6	d4 d5	Nc3 Nf6	Bg5 Be7	e5 Nfd7	Bxe7 Qxe7	f4 O-O	Nf3 c5	Qd2 Nc6	+/=
Caro-Kann Defence	... c6	d4 d5	Nc3 dxe4	Nxe4 Bf5	Ng3 Bg6	h4 h6	Nf3 Nd7	h5 Bh7	Bd3 Bxd3	+/=
Scandinavian Defence	... d5	exd5 Qxd5	Nc3 Qa5	d4 Nf6	Nf3 c6	Bc4 Bf5	Bd2 e6	Nd5 Qd8	Nxf6 Qxf6	+/=
Pirc Defence	... d6	d4 Nf6	Nc3 g6	f4 Bg7	Nf3 O-O	Bd3 Na6	O-O c5	d5 Rb8	Qe2 Nc7	+/-
Modern Defence	... g6	d4 Bg7	Nc3 d6	f4 a6	Nf3 b5	Bd3 Bb7	Qe2 Nc6	e5 Nh6	d5 Nb4	+/-
Alekhine Defence	... Nf6	e5 Nd5	d4 d6	c4 Nb6	f4 dxe5	fxe5 c5	d5 e6	Nc3 exd5	cxd5 Qh4+	+-
Nimzowitsch Defence	... Nc6	d4 d5	e5 Bf5	Nf3 e6	Bb5 a6	Bxc6+ bxc6	O-O c5	c3 cxd4	cxd4 h6	+-
Owen Defence	... b6	d4 Bb7	Bd3 e6	Nf3 c5	c3 Nf6	Qe2 Be7	O-O Nc6	e5 Nd5	dxc5 bxc5	+/-
St. George Defence	... a6	d4 b5	Nf3 Bb7	Bd3 Nf6	Qe2 e6	O-O c5	c3 d5	e5 Nfd7	dxc5 Nxc5	+/-
Duras Gambit	... f5	exf5 Nf6	d4 d5	Bd3 c5	c3 c4	Bc2 e6	Qe2 Bd6	fxe6 Qe7	Nf3 Bxe6	+-
Barnes Defence	... f6	d4 e6	Bd3 Ne7	Nf3 c5	d5 d6	O-O Ng6	Nc3 e5	Re1 Be7	Ne2 O-O	+-
Borg Defence	... g5	d4 Bg7	Bxg5 c5	c3 Qb6	Nf3 cxd4	cxd4 Nc6	Nc3!? Nxd4	Nd5! Qxb2	Rc1 Nxf3+	+-
Ware Defence	... a5	d4 e6	Nc3 d5	Bd3 Nc6	Nf3 Nb4	Be2 dxe4	Nxe4 h6	O-O Nf6	Nxf6+ Qxf6	+-
Pickering Defence	... h5	d4 e6	Nf3 d5	exd5 exd5	Bd3 Bd6	O-O Kf8	Re1 Nc6	h3 Nb4	Bf1 Bf5	+-
Carr Defence	... h6	d4 e6	Bd3 d5	Nc3 c5	dxc5 Bxc5	exd5 exd5	Bb5+ Nd7	Qxd5 Qe7+	Qe4 a6	+/-
O'Neill Gambit	... b5	Bxb5 Bb7	Nc3 Nf6	Qe2 e6	Nf3 a6	Ba4 c5	O-O Nc6	Bxc6 Bxc6	Ne5 Bb7	+-

When contributing to this Wikibook, please follow the Conventions for organization.

All possible Black's moves

Quick
Navigation

Na6
a6
a5

b6
b5

Nc6
c6
c5

d6
d5

e6
e5

Nf6
f6
f5

g6
g5

Nh6
h6
h5

References

↑ Fischer, Bobby (1969). "45. Fischer–Bisguier, New York State Open 1963". My 60 Memorable Games. Simon and Schuster. p. 280. ISBN 978-0-671-21483-8.
↑ 1...c5 and 1...e5 comprise 46% and 23% of continuations in the Lichess Master database, and 19% and 45% in the Lichess database.

External links

Wikipedia has related information at King's Pawn Game

365Chess: 1. e4

v · t · e

Chess openings quick reference

1. e4

1...e5 · Open

2. Nf3

With 2...Nc6:

With other 2nd moves:

2. Other

Bongcloud??
Damiano defence??

1...c5 · Sicilian

2... Nf3 · Open Sicilian

With 2...Nc6:

With 2...d6:

Dragon
- Levenfish attack
- Yugoslav attack
Dragondorf
Kupreichik
Moscow
Najdorf
Scheveningen

With 2...e6:

French, Normal
Kan
Kveinis
Kramnik
Paulsen-Basman
Taimanov
- Bastrikov
  English attack
- Szén
  Gary Gambit

With other 2nd moves:

Anti-Sicilians

Alapin
- Delayed Alapin with 2...Nc6, 2...d6, or 2...e6
Bowdler
Closed Sicilian
McDonnell
Mengarini
Smith-Morra
Snyder
Staunton-Cochrane
Wing gambit

1... other

Caro-Kann

French

Other

1. d4

1...d5 · Closed

2. c4

2. Nc3

2. other

1...Nf6 · Indian