Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Jaenisch Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. c4
The Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Jaenisch 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 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. c4. 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 83 times by this move order. White won 46%, 7% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 8… Nb4 (75% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.23 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 8… Nb4 9. Be2 O-O 10. Nc3 Bf5 11. a3)
- ECO
- C42
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/ppp1bppp/2n5/3p4/2PPn3/3B1N2/PP3PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - 0 8- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. c4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 18 | |
| 2000+ | 64 | |
| All | 83 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… Nb4 | 62 (75%) | |
| 8… Nf6 | 12 (14%) | |
| 8… O-O | 4 (5%) | |
| 8… Bg4 | 3 (4%) | |
| 8… Be6 | 1 (1%) | |
| 8… Bf5 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
105 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 25%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2713) – GM Christopher Woojin Yoo (2607) 1-0 · Titled Tue 21st Jul 2026 · 2026-07-21
- GM Andrei Istratescu (2672) – GM Artur Jussupow (2581) 1-0 · TCh-SUI 2014 · 2014-03-30
- GM Vasif Durarbayli (2628) – GM Kamil Dragun (2585) 1/2-1/2 · 13th Foxwoods Open · 2019-04-20
- GM Quang Liem Le (2694) – IM Raunak Sadhwani (2482) 1-0 · Asian Continental Blitz · 2019-06-15
- GM Mikhail Kobalia (2627) – FM Deniz Ozen (2393) 1-0 · 20th ch-EUR Indiv 2019 · 2019-03-18
Highest-rated Lichess games
- yuug (2365) – CM chesslh (2545) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 600 + 0s
- Hisoka84 (2399) – FM Mourinho_Jose (2440) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- CM Toluwani_keenchess (2405) – aava30 (2406) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Mason-Showalter Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6
Continuations
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Chigorin Variation, Browne Attack C42 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. c4 Nb4 9. cxd5
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Chigorin Variation, Main Line C42 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. c4 Nb4 9. Be2
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, Berger Variation C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Chigorin Variation C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Closed 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.