Lion Defense: Anti-Philidor, Lion's Cave
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. f4 e5
The Lion Defense: Anti-Philidor, Lion's Cave is a chess opening classified as ECO B07, reached after 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. f4 e5. It is a line of the Lion Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 647 times by this move order. White won 51%, 5% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 5. Nf3 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.67 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 5. Nf3 exd4 6. Qxd4 c6 7. Be3 d5)
- ECO
- B07
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppn1ppp/3p1n2/4p3/3PPP2/2N5/PPP3PP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. f4 e5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 27 | |
| 1500-1999 | 256 | |
| 2000+ | 364 | |
| All | 647 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Nf3 | 293 (45%) | |
| 5. fxe5 | 176 (27%) | |
| 5. dxe5 | 146 (23%) | |
| 5. d5 | 19 (3%) | |
| 5. f5 | 7 (1%) | |
| 5. Be3 | 4 (1%) | |
| 5. h3 | 1 (0%) | |
| 5. Bc4 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
786 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 49%, draw 14%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- GM Sergey Karjakin (2775) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2707) 1-0 · Piterenka Blitz 2012 · 2012-12-29
- GM David C Smerdon (2513) – GM Levon Aronian (2805) 1/2-1/2 · 41st Olympiad Open 2014 · 2014-08-03
- GM Zaven Andriasian (2605) – GM Alexander Motylev (2677) 0-1 · Amplico ch-EUR Blitz · 2012-12-14
- GM Aryan Tari (2663) – GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2604) 1-0 · Titled Tue 21st Jun Early · 2022-06-21
- GM Anton Demchenko (2654) – GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2604) 0-1 · Chess.com Rapid W10 Swiss · 2022-04-16
Search all games of the Lion Defense: Anti-Philidor, Lion's Cave and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM KAPUTVSEMU (2825) – Sunrise34 (2897) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Nana_jede_cevape (2829) – puziko52 (2751) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- CM Sultai (2700) – Haunting_Games (2652) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Lion Defense: Anti-Philidor 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. f4
Continuations
- Lion Defense: Anti-Philidor, Lion's Cave, Lion Claw Gambit B07 · 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. f4 e5 5. Nf3 exd4 6. Qxd4 c6 7. Bc4 d5
More Lion Defense lines (all)
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.