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King's Pawn Game C20

C — Open games & French · Family: King's Pawn Game

1. e4 e5

🎓 Train this family

Open games begin with 1.e4 e5 — the classical, symmetric center where both sides have claimed an equal share and the tension is resolved by development. This is the chess of Morphy, Capablanca and the young Fischer: bishops on c4 and b5, knights to f3 and c6, fast castling and the earliest possible fight for the center with d4 or the c3-d4 duo.

White's main roads from C20: the Italian Game (Bc4, aiming at f7), the Ruy Lopez (Bb5, the Spanish fight for e5), the Scotch (d4 straight away) and the romantic King's Gambit (f4). Black must answer the central question honestly — the Lopez pin, the Italian's f7-attack and the Scotch's immediate tension each demand precise, active development. Open games reward understanding over surprise: the first player to complete development with a plan usually seizes the initiative.

Play through the moves on the board above, explore the variations tree below — click any move of any branch — then test yourself against the engine from the position you picked.

• Position after 2 half-moves — White to move.
• Material is balanced.
• Family “King's Pawn Game” contains 38 recorded variation(s) here.

Variations tree of the King's Pawn Game family

Click any move to jump to that position; switch branches at any point with the alternative moves. Test your knowledge plays the shown position against the engine.

Variations of this family

Related openings

Nearby ECO codes in the C — Open games & French volume — compare the move orders:

• French Defense (C00)