Petrov's Defense (3. Nxe5 d6)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6
The Petrov's Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C42, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6. White is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 14,171 times by this move order. White won 49%, 6% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 4. Nf3 (81% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.30 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7)
- ECO
- C42
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/3p1n2/4N3/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4,407 | |
| 1500-1999 | 6,768 | |
| 2000+ | 2,996 | |
| All | 14,171 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Nf3 Petrov's Defense (3… d6 4. Nf3) | 11,450 (81%) | |
| 4. Nxf7 Cochrane Gambit | 1,189 (8%) | |
| 4. Nc4 Paulsen Attack | 843 (6%) | |
| 4. Nd3 Karklins-Martinovsky Variation | 340 (2%) | |
| 4. Ng4 | 140 (1%) | |
| 4. Bb5+ | 80 (1%) | |
| 4. Bc4 | 34 (0%) | |
| 4. d4 | 28 (0%) |
Master games
5 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 0%, draw 20%, Black 80%). The strongest:
- FM Filip Cukrowski (2424) – GM Miroslaw Grabarczyk (2362) 0-1 · 55th Rubinstein Mem · 2019-08-21
- M Siddarth (2159) – IM Omer Reshef (2495) 0-1 · US Collegiate Blitz 2020 · 2020-09-27
- Dimitar Dyulgerov (1987) – GM Milko Popchev (2267) 1/2-1/2 · Vivacom Open 2015 · 2015-09-19
- WCM Pal Vedika (1806) – IM Tologontegin, S. (2304) 0-1 · Titled Tue 9th Sep 2025 · 2025-09-09
Search all games of the Petrov's Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM gmbrewchess (2962) – Nana_jede_cevape (2901) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- GM gmbrewchess (2964) – Nana_jede_cevape (2872) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- BoneCrusher2020 (2750) – GM Pon4ik2006 (2990) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Petrov's Defense (2… Nf6 3. Nxe5) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5
Continuations
- Petrov's Defense (3… d6 4. Nf3) C42 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3
- Petrov's Defense: Cochrane Gambit C42 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nxf7
- Petrov's Defense: Karklins-Martinovsky Variation C42 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nd3
- Petrov's Defense: Paulsen Attack C42 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nc4
More Petrov's Defense lines (all)
- Petrov's Defense (2. Nf3 Nf6) C42
- Petrov's Defense (4. Nf3 Nxe4) C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Berger Variation C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Chigorin Variation C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Chigorin Variation, Browne Attack C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Chigorin Variation, Main Line C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Closed Variation C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Jaenisch Variation C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Krause Variation C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Marshall Trap C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Marshall Variation C42
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.