Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Tarrasch 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 Bg4
The Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Tarrasch 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 Bg4. 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 1 times by this move order. White won 100%, 0% were drawn and Black won 0%. The most popular continuation is 9. cxd5 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.67 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 9. cxd5 Nf6 10. h3 Bh5 11. Nc3 Re8)
- ECO
- C42
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
rn1q1rk1/ppp2ppp/3b4/3p4/2PPn1b1/3B1N2/PP3PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w - - 1 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 Bg4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 1 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9. cxd5 | 1 (100%) |
Master games
2 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 0%, draw 0%, Black 100%). The strongest:
- Liduino F Vasconcelos Junior (2135) – CM Kaiser Luiz Mafra (2212) 0-1 · 1st Cidade Velha Open · 2015-05-03
- FM Tomas Kapitanchuk (2031) – CM Kaiser Luiz Mafra (2212) 0-1 · VI Copa Latina 2015 · 2015-03-23
Highest-rated Lichess games
- hunter2026 (1997) – rparcemon2025 (2079) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 1800 + 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 Trap 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 Bg4 9. cxd5 f5 10. Re1 Bxh2+
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.