Petrov's Defense: Cozio Attack
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Qe2
The Petrov's Defense: Cozio Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C42, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Qe2. It is a line of the Petrov's Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 3,222 times by this move order. White won 49%, 6% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 5… Qe7 (90% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 5… Qe7 6. d3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Qxe2+ 8. Bxe2)
- ECO
- C42
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/3p4/8/4n3/5N2/PPPPQPPP/RNB1KB1R b KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Qe2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,386 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,602 | |
| 2000+ | 234 | |
| All | 3,222 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Qe7 | 2,908 (90%) | |
| 5… d5 | 189 (6%) | |
| 5… Bf5 | 67 (2%) | |
| 5… f5 | 22 (1%) | |
| 5… Be7 | 19 (1%) | |
| 5… Bg4 | 5 (0%) | |
| 5… Ke7 | 3 (0%) | |
| 5… Qd7 | 3 (0%) |
Master games
1,386 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 22%, draw 59%, Black 19%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2834) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2811) 1/2-1/2 · 80th Tata Steel GpA · 2018-01-13
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2778) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess 2024 · 2024-08-08
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2771) 1/2-1/2 · AI Cup Div 1 W · 2023-09-26
- GM Vladimir Kramnik (2800) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2784) 0-1 · FIDE Candidates 2018 · 2018-03-14
- GM So, W. (2799) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2784) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Candidates 2018 · 2018-03-19
Search all games of the Petrov's Defense: Cozio Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Vnebo (2686) – madcap_tr (2638) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- JelenaZ (2660) – puulusikas (2581) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- sindrom_69 (2568) – IM denis6917 (2640) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Petrov's Defense (4. Nf3 Nxe4) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4
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 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
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Krause 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.