Tree path 2 levels King's Pawn Game › King's Knight Opening
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C40

King's Knight Opening

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Overview

King's Knight Opening is a named branch in the Open Games group of chess theory, classified under ECO C40.

The Open Games group covers open games — classical 1.e4 e5 openings where both sides contest the centre directly with pawns.

Play reaches this position via 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3, after 3 plies of opening development.

It branches immediately from King's Pawn Game in the opening tree.

10 distinct sub-variations branch from this opening; prominent examples include Elephant Gambit, Gunderam Defense, Normal Variation, and others.

This is a deep theory tree with 680 total sub-variations across all depths — one of the larger branches in chess theory.

Use the board to walk through every move, check how the position has scored on Lichess, or take it head-to-head against Stockfish.

ECO code
C40
Group
Open Games (C)
Plies
3
Parent
King's Pawn Game
Direct variations
10
Total in subtree
680

This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. A more detailed, human-written description is on the way — and you can speed it up by suggesting one yourself.

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Variations (10)

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