Petrov's Defense (4. Nf3 Nxe4)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4
The Petrov's Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C42, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4. White is to move. 6 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 10,566 times by this move order. White won 49%, 7% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 5. Qe2 (30% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.27 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O)
- ECO
- C42
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/3p4/8/4n3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2,572 | |
| 1500-1999 | 5,463 | |
| 2000+ | 2,531 | |
| All | 10,566 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Qe2 Cozio Attack | 3,222 (30%) | |
| 5. d4 Classical Attack | 2,771 (26%) | |
| 5. Nc3 Nimzowitsch Attack | 1,771 (17%) | |
| 5. d3 French Attack | 1,307 (12%) | |
| 5. Bc4 | 747 (7%) | |
| 5. Bd3 Millennium Attack | 308 (3%) | |
| 5. Be2 | 236 (2%) | |
| 5. c4 Kaufmann Attack | 84 (1%) |
Master games
135 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 47%, draw 22%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2778) 0-1 · chess.com SpeedChess 2024 · 2024-08-08
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2830) – GM Yangyi Yu (2714) 1-0 · World Blitz 2023 · 2023-12-30
- GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2604) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2792) 1/2-1/2 · Chess.com RCC Wk25 Swiss · 2022-08-13
- GM David Paravyan (2606) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2733) 1-0 · Titled Tue 21st May Early · 2024-05-21
- GM Kirill Alekseenko (2674) – GM Roven Vogel (2534) 1-0 · Bundesliga 2025-26 · 2026-02-28
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 (3… d6 4. Nf3) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3
Continuations
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack C42 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4
- Petrov's Defense: Cozio Attack C42 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Qe2
- Petrov's Defense: French Attack C42 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d3
- Petrov's Defense: Kaufmann Attack C42 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. c4
- Petrov's Defense: Millennium Attack C42 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Bd3
- Petrov's Defense: Nimzowitsch Attack C42 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3
More Petrov's Defense lines (all)
- Petrov's Defense (2. Nf3 Nf6) C42
- Petrov's Defense (2… Nf6 3. Nxe5) C42
- Petrov's Defense (3. Nxe5 d6) 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.