Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4
The Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C42, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4. It is a line of the Petrov's Defense. Black is to move. 5 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,771 times by this move order. White won 50%, 7% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 5… d5 (80% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.25 (Stockfish, depth 58; best line 5… d5 6. Bd3 Be7 7. O-O Nc6 8. Nbd2)
- ECO
- C42
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/3p4/8/3Pn3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 239 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,527 | |
| 2000+ | 1,005 | |
| All | 2,771 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… d5 | 2,226 (80%) | |
| 5… Be7 | 253 (9%) | |
| 5… Bg4 | 86 (3%) | |
| 5… Nf6 Classical Attack, Closed Variation | 67 (2%) | |
| 5… Qe7 | 61 (2%) | |
| 5… Nc6 | 24 (1%) | |
| 5… Bf5 | 19 (1%) | |
| 5… g6 | 9 (0%) |
Master games
1,874 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 45%, Black 17%). The strongest:
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2772) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2861) 1/2-1/2 · 75th Tata Steel GpA · 2013-01-17
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2859) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2766) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com SpeedChess 2022 · 2022-12-13
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2859) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2766) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess 2022 · 2022-12-13
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2864) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2750) 1/2-1/2 · Charity Cup KO 2022 · 2022-03-26
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) – GM So, W. (2753) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com SpeedChess 2023 · 2023-09-19
Search all games of the Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- BoneCrusher2020 (2750) – GM Pon4ik2006 (2990) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- IM Kostik_Mostik (2912) – kuhmft (2799) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Sunrise34 (2861) – IM ManiacalZerker (2788) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Petrov's Defense (4. Nf3 Nxe4) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4
Continuations
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Closed Variation C42 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 Nf6
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Marshall Variation C42 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Mason-Showalter Variation C42 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Mason Variation C42 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Be7 7. O-O O-O
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Chigorin Variation C42 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Be7 7. O-O Nc6 8. Re1
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: Classical Attack, Berger 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, Jaenisch 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, Chinese Gambit C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Maróczy 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.