King's Pawn Game: McConnell Defense
Chess opening · ECO C40 · 4 half-moves
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Qf6
The King's Pawn Game: McConnell Defense is reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Qf6. It is White's move in the position shown.
It branches from the King's Knight Opening with 2… Qf6.
How often it is played
The King's Pawn Game: McConnell Defense and its variations appeared in 0.25% of games — 7,604 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 156 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 50%, 3.2% were drawn and Black won 47%. These are games between players of every strength and time control, so they say how the opening does in practice rather than how sound it is.
What the engine thinks
Stockfish, at depth 18, evaluates the position at +1.19 — a clear edge for White. Positive numbers favour White; see reading the evaluation bar.
Similar openings
The most-played alternatives — what else could have been chosen around the move where this opening begins.
| Opening | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| King's Knight Opening: Normal Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 | 10% |
| Philidor Defense | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 | 2.1% |
| Petrov's Defense | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 | 1.3% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| King's Pawn Game: La Bourdonnais Gambit | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Qf6 3. Bc4 Qg6 4. O-O | 0.00% |
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