Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Closed Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 Nf6
The Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Closed 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 Nf6. It is a line of the Petrov's Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 67 times by this move order. White won 60%, 6% were drawn and Black won 34%. The most popular continuation is 6. Bd3 (49% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.39 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 6. c4 g6 7. Nc3 Bg7 8. Bd3 O-O)
- ECO
- C42
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/3p1n2/8/3P4/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 1 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 Nf6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 18 | |
| 1500-1999 | 34 | |
| 2000+ | 15 | |
| All | 67 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Bd3 | 33 (49%) | |
| 6. Bc4 | 11 (16%) | |
| 6. Nc3 | 6 (9%) | |
| 6. c4 | 5 (7%) | |
| 6. Bg5 | 5 (7%) | |
| 6. d5 | 2 (3%) | |
| 6. h3 | 2 (3%) | |
| 6. Be2 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
35 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 14%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2685) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2737) 1-0 · Bullet Chess Winners 2024 · 2024-06-10
- GM So, W. (2752) – GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara (2607) 0-1 · Julius Baer Gen Cup D2 W · 2024-09-30
- GM Velimir Ivic (2628) – GM Dmitry Andreikin (2729) 1-0 · Titled Tue 14th Jun Late · 2022-06-14
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2734) – GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara (2610) 1-0 · Titled Tue 23rd Jan Early · 2024-01-23
- GM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (2720) – GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara (2607) 0-1 · Julius Baer Gen Cup D2 W · 2024-09-29
Search all games of the Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Closed Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- dasp33 (2481) – NJA_B (2396) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- your0wner (2302) – Evernew (2359) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Alanvarela10 (2215) – e-ewe (2279) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4
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, 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, 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.