King's Gambit Declined: Petrov's Defense
1. e4 e5 2. f4 Nf6
The King's Gambit Declined: Petrov's Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C30, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Nf6. It is a line of the King's Gambit Declined. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4,329 times by this move order. White won 53%, 2% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 3. Nc3 (34% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.07 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 3. fxe5 Nxe4 4. Nf3 Be7 5. d4 d5)
- ECO
- C30
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppp1ppp/5n2/4p3/4PP2/8/PPPP2PP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 3- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. f4 Nf6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,498 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,465 | |
| 2000+ | 366 | |
| All | 4,329 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Nc3 | 1,475 (34%) | |
| 3. Nf3 | 1,365 (32%) | |
| 3. fxe5 | 950 (22%) | |
| 3. d3 | 353 (8%) | |
| 3. Bc4 | 70 (2%) | |
| 3. f5 | 45 (1%) | |
| 3. d4 | 18 (0%) | |
| 3. Qf3 | 12 (0%) |
Master games
59 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 51%, draw 17%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2766) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2759) 1/2-1/2 · SuperUnited Blitz 2022 · 2022-07-23
- GM Boris Savchenko (2551) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2770) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tuesday 6th Oct · 2020-10-06
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2758) – GM Denes Boros (2402) 1-0 · Titled Tue 13th Feb Early · 2024-02-13
- IM Jakub Kosakowski (2516) – GM Pablo Zarnicki (2514) 1-0 · Titled Tue 29th Oct Late · 2024-10-29
- GM Boris Savchenko (2564) – FM Alexander Sergeyev (2395) 1-0 · Panchenko Mem Open A 2020 · 2020-09-15
Search all games of the King's Gambit Declined: Petrov's Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- nuitet876888 (2503) – GM Stoichess (2694) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- garipaucharecalcada (2533) – FM TheRealChessMind (2536) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- nuitet989893 (2493) – pop-up (2562) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Gambit 1. e4 e5 2. f4
More King's Gambit Declined lines (all)
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation (2. f4 Bc5) C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation (3… d6 4. c3) C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation, Euwe Attack C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation, Rotlewi Countergambit C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation, Rubinstein Countergambit C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation, Walthoffen Attack C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical, Hanham Variation C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical, Réti Variation C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical, Soldatenkov Variation C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical, Svenonius Variation C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Hobbs-Zilbermints Gambit C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Keene Defense C30
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.