Center Game

White opens the centre at once with 2. d4 and recaptures with the queen, which can then be chased by ...Nc6.

It is reached after 3 moves: 1. e4 e5 2. d4.

Black is to move and has 30 legal moves. Over the next four moves — two for each side — the game can branch into 1,234,711 different games. Those games reach 395,553 different positions: most positions can be reached in more than one way, 3.1 on average.

The Lichess opening list names 27 further lines after this position, such as Center Game Accepted (2... exd4) and King's Pawn Game, Beyer Gambit (2... d5).

The same moves can be played in 2 different legal orders that all reach this position. For example 1. d4 e5 2. e4, which starts as the Queen's Pawn Game.