This position comes from the King's Pawn Game: Wayward Queen Attack, after 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5. It was reached in 13,010 rated blitz, rapid and classical games on Lichess from June 2024 to September 2026, with Black to move, and 817 times Black played 2...g6. Stockfish 18, checking it again at depth 18, calls g6 a mistake.
What would you play? Open the position to analyse it before you read on.
How often players fall for it
By the players' average rating, the share of games where Black played each move, and the score it got (a draw counts as half):
- under 800, 1,679 games: 2...g6 in 16%, scoring 36%; 2...Nc6 in 25%, scoring 65%
- 800 to 1,199, 6,621 games: 2...g6 in 7%, scoring 36%; 2...Nc6 in 47%, scoring 63%
- 1,200 to 1,599, 3,754 games: 2...g6 in 3%, scoring 30%; 2...Nc6 in 61%, scoring 62%
- 1,600 to 1,999, 824 games: 2...g6 in 1%, scoring 25%; 2...Nc6 in 69%, scoring 53%
- 2,000 to 2,199, 62 games: 2...g6 never; 2...Nc6 in 65%, scoring 51%
The mistake is most common among players rated under 800, and it gets rarer at every step up in rating.
Why 2...g6 is a mistake
Stockfish's answer is 3.Qxe5+ Qe7 4.Qxh8 d5. The first move: the queen takes the pawn on e5, with check. Qxe5+ forks the king on e8 and the rook on h8. Along that line, White has taken a rook and a pawn, so White is ahead by 6 points of material. After g6, the engine gives Black a disadvantage of 4.2 pawns.
The better move
2...Nc6: the knight goes to c6. Stockfish's line goes on 2...Nc6 3.Bc4 g6 4.Qf3 Nf6 5.Ne2, and gives Black an advantage of 0.3 pawns. Other moves come close to it, so it is the move to remember rather than the only one.
Learn more
The lesson Opening principles covers what to aim for in the first moves. Traps to know shows famous tricks of the opening and how to meet them. To find the mistakes in your own games, game review checks them with Stockfish on your device and turns your mistakes into practice.