Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Ke2

The so-called "Bongcloud" opening, where White "develops" their king.

This is the worst possible second move: White gives up the right to castle unprovoked, misses the opportunity to develop a piece, blocks the lines 1. e4 opened for the queen and bishop, and ignores the centre. The joke rationale for this move is to prepare for the endgame early.

It can be played as an insult, or a gag, or due to the dubiousness of the move, it can be used as a form of a handicap system.

In 2008 a Chess.com user by the handle Lenny_Bongcloud came to notoriety for beginning every game with 1.e4 & 2. Ke2 with White, and 1...e5 & 2...Ke7 with Black (and is still doing so as of November 2025). After him, Chess.com users christened 2. Ke2 the "bongcloud",^[1] a name, we suppose, that has something to do with drugs, but as good little chess players we wouldn't know anything about that.

In 2010 Andrew Fabbro wrote a tongue-in-cheek book on the opening, Winning with the Bongcloud, dedicated to Lenny_Bongcloud. The book is a parody of overwritten chess opening repertoire literature. Fabbro invented spurious defences with chess jargon names ("...Ke7! This inaugurates the Bongcloud Counter-Gambit, and play often leads to the very sharp Marijanezy Bind, after 3. g4 g5 3. Kf3!") and recommended it for people whose "current repertoire is too drawish" or who "can't afford the full version of ChessBase and want an opening where all known games will fit in ChessBase Light's 32,000-game limit."^[2]

Hikaru Nakamura is largely responsible for popularising the joke with a wider audience. In 2020 Nakamura made a new Chess.com account to stream playing the opening exclusively (and, of course, winning with it, because he's a super-GM).^[3] In 2021, Magnus Carlsen and Nakamura made headlines when they played the following game: 1. e4 e5 2. Ke2 Ke7 3. Ke1 Ke8 4. Ke2 Ke7 5. Ke1 Ke8 6. Ke2 Ke7 ½-½^[4][5]

Wikipedia has related information at Bongcloud Attack.