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
The Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Staunton 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 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 c6. It is a line of the Petrov's Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 262 times by this move order. White won 53%, 7% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 9. Nc3 (52% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.32 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 9. Re1 Re8 10. Qb3 Na6 11. cxd5 cxd5)
- ECO
- C42
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/pp3ppp/2pb4/3p4/2PPn3/3B1N2/PP3PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w - - 0 9- 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
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3 | |
| 1500-1999 | 93 | |
| 2000+ | 166 | |
| All | 262 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9. Nc3 | 136 (52%) | |
| 9. Re1 | 44 (17%) | |
| 9. cxd5 | 41 (16%) | |
| 9. Qc2 | 16 (6%) | |
| 9. c5 | 14 (5%) | |
| 9. Qb3 | 8 (3%) | |
| 9. Nbd2 | 2 (1%) | |
| 9. Qd2 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
1,663 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 38%, Black 22%). The strongest:
- Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) – LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-08-01
- LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) – Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-07-31
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2855) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2782) 1/2-1/2 · WCh 2021 · 2021-11-30
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2792) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2820) 1-0 · FTX Crypto Cup KO 2021 · 2021-05-26
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2771) 1-0 · AI Cup Div 1 W · 2023-09-26
Highest-rated Lichess games
- BoneCrusher2020 (2750) – GM Pon4ik2006 (2990) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Sunrise34 (2861) – IM ManiacalZerker (2788) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Sunrise34 (2850) – IM ManiacalZerker (2799) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Marshall Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6
Continuations
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Marshall Variation, Chinese Gambit C42 · 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
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.