Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Krause Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. Re1 Bg4 9. c3 f5 10. c4
The Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Krause 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. Re1 Bg4 9. c3 f5 10. c4. It is a line of the Petrov's Defense. Black is to move.
This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.
Engine evaluation: −0.26 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 10… Bh4 11. g3 Bf6 12. cxd5 Nxd4 13. Bxe4)
- ECO
- C42
- Moves
- 19 plies
- FEN
r2qk2r/ppp1b1pp/2n5/3p1p2/2PPn1b1/3B1N2/PP3PPP/RNBQR1K1 b kq - 0 10- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. Re1 Bg4 9. c3 f5 10. c4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Master games
1 over-the-board game is classified under this line (White 100%, draw 0%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- GM Sergei Azarov (2604) – FM Konstantin Keosidi (2404) 1-0 · 33rd Leon Blitz Open 2020 · 2020-07-14
Search all games of the Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Krause Variation and its sub-variations
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
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, 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
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.