Petrov's Defense: Karklins-Martinovsky Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nd3
The Petrov's Defense: Karklins-Martinovsky Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C42, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nd3. 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 340 times by this move order. White won 44%, 7% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 4… Nxe4 (84% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.07 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 4… Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. Nf4 Nc6 7. Nd5)
- ECO
- C42
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/3p1n2/8/4P3/3N4/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nd3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 158 | |
| 1500-1999 | 111 | |
| 2000+ | 71 | |
| All | 340 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Nxe4 | 287 (84%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 20 (6%) | |
| 4… Bg4 | 12 (4%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 7 (2%) | |
| 4… Qe7 | 5 (1%) | |
| 4… c5 | 3 (1%) | |
| 4… Be6 | 3 (1%) | |
| 4… c6 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
549 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 40%, Black 19%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2832) 1/2-1/2 · WCh 2018 · 2018-11-16
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2855) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2782) 1/2-1/2 · WCh 2021 · 2021-12-08
- GM So, W. (2780) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2822) 1/2-1/2 · 6th Sinquefield Cup 2018 · 2018-08-27
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2859) – GM Richard Rapport (2740) 1-0 · 85th Tata Steel Masters · 2023-01-21
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2840) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2751) 1/2-1/2 · 31st Sigeman & Co 2026 · 2026-05-01
Search all games of the Petrov's Defense: Karklins-Martinovsky Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- sunchess137 (2672) – madcap_tr (2691) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- sunchess137 (2651) – madcap_tr (2685) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Oxota_2001 (2547) – Kayra_Kamer (2697) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Petrov's Defense (3. Nxe5 d6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6
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… 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
- 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.