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
The Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Chigorin 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. It is a line of the Petrov's Defense. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 21 times by this move order. White won 57%, 0% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 8… Bg4 (67% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.14 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 8… Bg4 9. c4 Nf6 10. Nc3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3)
- ECO
- C42
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/ppp1bppp/2n5/3p4/3Pn3/3B1N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQR1K1 b kq - 5 8- 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
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 11 | |
| 2000+ | 10 | |
| All | 21 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… Bg4 | 14 (67%) | |
| 8… Bf5 | 5 (24%) | |
| 8… O-O | 2 (10%) |
Master games
81 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 34%, Black 26%). The strongest:
- GM Rauf Mamedov (2646) – GM Yangyi Yu (2728) 1-0 · World Rapid 2022 · 2022-12-28
- GM Jaime Santos Latasa (2616) – GM M. Amin Tabatabaei (2700) 1/2-1/2 · World Rapid 2025 · 2025-12-27
- GM Li Chao2 (2666) – GM Qun Ma (2648) 1/2-1/2 · CHN Team Men 2023 · 2023-05-21
- GM Rauf Mamedov (2651) – GM Daniele Vocaturo (2597) 1/2-1/2 · 24th ch-EUR Indiv 2024 · 2024-11-17
- GM Arkadij Naiditsch (2702) – IM Aman Hambleton (2479) 1-0 · chess.com IoM Masters · 2017-09-24
Highest-rated Lichess games
- StonedUnicorn (2300) – capmega (2381) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- alex_bodnar (2338) – KnightofMountains (2184) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- Xhangwino (2275) – KashaBurek (2148) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4
Continuations
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Berger Variation C42 · 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
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Maróczy Variation C42 · 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. c4 Bh4
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, 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.