Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Marshall Variation, Chinese Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 c6 9. Re1 Bg4
The Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Marshall Variation, Chinese Gambit 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 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 c6 9. Re1 Bg4. 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 1 times by this move order. White won 100%, 0% were drawn and Black won 0%. The most popular continuation is 10. Bxe4 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.48 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 10. h3 Bh5 11. Bxe4 dxe4 12. Rxe4 Nd7)
- ECO
- C42
- Moves
- 18 plies
- FEN
rn1q1rk1/pp3ppp/2pb4/3p4/2PPn1b1/3B1N2/PP3PPP/RNBQR1K1 w - - 2 10- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 c6 9. Re1 Bg4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| All | 1 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10. Bxe4 | 1 (100%) |
Master games
13 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 31%, draw 54%, Black 15%). The strongest:
- GM Praggnanandhaa R (2749) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2767) 1/2-1/2 · 11th Sinquefield Cup · 2024-08-26
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2762) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2732) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com SpeedChess 2025 · 2025-11-20
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2723) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2757) 1/2-1/2 · Chess.com Classic Losers · 2025-05-22
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2743) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2723) 1-0 · Jerusalem Masters KO 2025 · 2025-12-03
- GM Volodar Murzin (2670) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2741) 1/2-1/2 · Bundesliga 2025-26 · 2026-02-08
Highest-rated Lichess games
- maggiedactyl (1734) – nuitsblanches (1742) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 300 + 3s
Comes from
Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Staunton Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 c6
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.