Petrov's Defense: Millennium Attack
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Bd3
The Petrov's Defense: Millennium Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C42, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Bd3. 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 308 times by this move order. White won 46%, 5% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 5… Nf6 (39% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.21 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 5… d5 6. Qe2 Be7 7. Bxe4 dxe4 8. Qxe4)
- ECO
- C42
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/3p4/8/4n3/3B1N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Bd3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 115 | |
| 1500-1999 | 139 | |
| 2000+ | 54 | |
| All | 308 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Nf6 | 121 (39%) | |
| 5… d5 | 82 (27%) | |
| 5… Nc5 | 67 (22%) | |
| 5… Qe7 | 26 (8%) | |
| 5… Bf5 | 8 (3%) | |
| 5… Nxd2 | 1 (0%) | |
| 5… f5 | 1 (0%) | |
| 5… Bg4 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
836 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 33%, Black 19%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2853) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2785) 1-0 · 11th Norway Armageddon · 2023-06-06
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2853) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2779) 1/2-1/2 · Global Chess League 2023 · 2023-06-22
- GM So, W. (2786) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2804) 1/2-1/2 · ch-USA 2018 · 2018-04-26
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2766) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2816) 1-0 · GCT Rapid YourNextMove · 2018-06-12
- GM So, W. (2773) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2792) 1/2-1/2 · Chess.com RCC Wk25 KO · 2022-08-14
Search all games of the Petrov's Defense: Millennium Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- SackOnTheKing930 (2699) – Washington91 (2595) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Master1970 (2702) – Parwis (2498) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Ho_eschatos (2498) – DLR_CH_1 (2530) 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
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.