Center Game: Win Rate by Lichess Rating

Center Game · 1.e4 e5 2.d4 · CC0 name list

At 1500–1799 (Lichess rating), White scored 53.8% in 24,136 Center Game games (±0.6; games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026).

White won 52.3% of them, Black won 44.6%, and 3.1% were drawn.

White scores above 50% at this level (outside the margin)

In games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026, White scored 53.8% (±0.6) with the Center Game in sampled Lichess games at the 1500–1799 Lichess rating level (24,136 games). Observed results, not causation.

Data period: games from 1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026 (sample of the Lichess open database) · Page updated: 9 Oct 2026

2.6%

of rated games at Lichess ratings under 1200 reached the Center Game · 21,460 of 817,349 games, Oct 2025–Sep 2026 sample

At 2100+: 0.7%. Under 1200: 2.6%. 3.7× as common under 1200 as at 2100+.

Position after 1.e4 e5 2.d4. 90,489 games in this sample reached it — 2,371 of them by a different move order.

At a glance

In this sample, White's score ranged from 52.6% (Under 1200) to 53.8% (1500–1799).
Treat this spread with caution: the margins are approximate (see How it works).
It appeared most often in the Under 1200 group (2.6% of that group's games).
Draws were most common in the 2100+ group (4.4%).

These are observed results for the selected games (rated, players within 200 rating points of each other). They describe what happened — they do not prove the opening caused the result.

Results by Lichess rating level

Each row shows how the Center Game games at one rating level ended: White wins, draws and Black wins, across all time controls combined. Rating level is the average Lichess rating of both players.

White won drawn Black won. Center Game — results by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined (minimum 300 games per row).

Under 120021,460 gamesIn the headline

White wins 50.7% · draws 3.8% · Black wins 45.5% · White's score 52.6% ±0.7 · how common 2.6%
1200–149924,736 games

White wins 51.9% · draws 2.8% · Black wins 45.3% · White's score 53.3% ±0.6 · how common 2.1%
1500–179924,136 games

White wins 52.3% · draws 3.1% · Black wins 44.6% · White's score 53.8% ±0.6 · how common 1.5%
1800–209915,228 games

White wins 52.1% · draws 3.3% · Black wins 44.7% · White's score 53.7% ±0.8 · how common 1.1%
2100+4,929 gamesCompared with

White wins 50.8% · draws 4.4% · Black wins 44.8% · White's score 53.0% ±1.4 · how common 0.7%

"White's score" = wins + half of draws. "±" is an approximate 95% margin based only on the number of games. It does not cover sampling bias or related games (the same players appear many times), so real uncertainty is larger. "How common" = share of all sampled games at that level that reached this position. Ratings are Lichess ratings; they are not interchangeable with Chess.com or FIDE ratings.

Compare it with another choice from the same position, at the Lichess level and time control you choose: Compare in Find Your Opening (the comparison needs JavaScript)

Results by time control

Each row shows how the Center Game games ended in one Lichess time control, across all rating levels combined.

Center Game — results by time control, all rating levels combined (minimum 300 games per row)
Time control	Games	White wins	Draws	Black wins	White's score
Bullet	27,952	52.2%	2.3%	45.5%	53.3%
Blitz	44,414	51.9%	3.6%	44.5%	53.7%
Rapid	17,580	50.4%	3.9%	45.7%	52.3%
Classical	543	53.2%	4.4%	42.4%	55.4%

This table and the rating rows are separate summaries: rating levels are not split by time control here, and time controls are not split by rating. Observed results only; approximate uncertainty applies as above.

Most played replies for Black at each level

Top replies with at least 150 games. "Score" is Black's score after that reply (wins + half of draws). These comparisons alone can't show that one reply is reliably better — the margins are approximate and stronger or weaker players may prefer different replies.

Replies to 1.e4 e5 2.d4 by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined
Rating level	Reply · share · games · score
Under 1200	2...exd4 ·46.6% · 9,974 · 50.5% ±1.0 2...Nc6 ·17.4% · 3,730 · 45.5% ±1.6 2...d6 ·10.3% · 2,211 · 46.3% ±2.0
1200–1499	2...exd4 ·60.8% · 15,015 · 47.7% ±0.8 2...Nc6 ·15.7% · 3,876 · 45.5% ±1.5 2...d6 ·8.2% · 2,021 · 45.4% ±2.1
1500–1799	2...exd4 ·66.2% · 15,972 · 46.3% ±0.8 2...Nc6 ·16.2% · 3,916 · 46.8% ±1.5 2...d6 ·6.6% · 1,582 · 46.3% ±2.4
1800–2099	2...exd4 ·64.7% · 9,845 · 46.0% ±1.0 2...Nc6 ·19.0% · 2,886 · 47.3% ±1.8 2...d6 ·6.6% · 1,003 · 48.7% ±3.0
2100+	2...exd4 ·57.7% · 2,845 · 46.2% ±1.8 2...Nc6 ·25.2% · 1,241 · 47.3% ±2.7 2...Nf6 ·5.8% · 284 · 50.4% ±5.8

Up next: related positions with a page

Deeper line: Danish Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 (Italian Game)
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 (Scotch Game)
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 (Ruy Lopez)

Other choices from the same position for White: each one's own level and score, as on its page
Opening	Lichess rating level	Games	White's score
vs King's Knight Opening 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3	1500–1799	219,369	52.4% ±0.2
vs Bishop's Opening 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4	1500–1799	40,468	53.0% ±0.5
vs Vienna Game 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3	1500–1799	30,703	53.0% ±0.5
vs King's Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f4	1500–1799	28,113	52.9% ±0.6

Each row is a separate page with its own games. A difference smaller than the two margins combined is no clear difference. Observed results, not causation.

Deeper positions with this name

The free opening list gives the name Center Game to 1 deeper position on this line as well. This page counts the first one; games in the 12-month sample that reached each deeper one:

1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4: 21,182 games

Download these numbers: Center Game (CSV), released under CC0. For move-by-move exploration with your own filters, see the free Lichess opening explorer. This independent page lists each rating level and each time control in its own row for comparison.