Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Berger Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Be7 7. O-O Nc6 8. Re1 Bg4 9. c3 f5 10. Nbd2
The Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Berger Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C42, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Be7 7. O-O Nc6 8. Re1 Bg4 9. c3 f5 10. Nbd2. It is a line of the Petrov's Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 3 times by this move order. White won 100%, 0% were drawn and Black won 0%. The most popular continuation is 10… O-O (67% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.08 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 10… O-O 11. Qb3 Na5 12. Qc2 Nc6 13. b4)
- ECO
- C42
- Moves
- 19 plies
- FEN
r2qk2r/ppp1b1pp/2n5/3p1p2/3Pn1b1/2PB1N2/PP1N1PPP/R1BQR1K1 b kq - 1 10- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Be7 7. O-O Nc6 8. Re1 Bg4 9. c3 f5 10. Nbd2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 3 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10… O-O | 2 (67%) | |
| 10… Bd6 | 1 (33%) |
Master games
16 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 43%, Black 19%). The strongest:
- GM Hans Moke Niemann (2729) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2762) 1/2-1/2 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 13th Nov 2025 · 2025-11-13
- GM Gata Kamsky (2634) – GM Dmitry Andreikin (2729) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 14th Nov Late · 2023-11-14
- GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara (2607) – GM Vugar Rasulov (2516) 1-0 · Titled Tue 28th Mar Late · 2023-03-28
- FM Eneasz Wiewiora (2346) – GM Nidjat Mamedov (2609) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 9th June · 2020-06-09
- GM Jean-Noel Riff (2401) – GM Namig Guliyev (2521) 0-1 · TCh-FRA Top 16 Haute 2023 · 2023-06-08
Search all games of the Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Berger Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- alex_bodnar (2338) – KnightofMountains (2184) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- LisaOcs (2115) – KashaBurek (2108) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 900 + 10s
- zongler123 (1945) – stanislaw0 (2072) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Chigorin Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Be7 7. O-O Nc6 8. Re1
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 (3… d6 4. Nf3) C42
- Petrov's Defense (4. Nf3 Nxe4) C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack 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
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.