Petrov's Defense: Paulsen Attack
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nc4
The Petrov's Defense: Paulsen Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C42, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nc4. 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 843 times by this move order. White won 48%, 4% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 4… Nxe4 (82% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 4… Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. Qxe7+)
- ECO
- C42
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/3p1n2/8/2N1P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nc4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 360 | |
| 1500-1999 | 325 | |
| 2000+ | 158 | |
| All | 843 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Nxe4 | 692 (82%) | |
| 4… Be6 | 28 (3%) | |
| 4… b5 | 27 (3%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 25 (3%) | |
| 4… d5 | 22 (3%) | |
| 4… Bg4 | 16 (2%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 14 (2%) | |
| 4… Qe7 | 9 (1%) |
Master games
489 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 25%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2835) 1-0 · Clutch Chess Showdown Int · 2020-06-14
- GM Gukesh D (2777) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2801) 0-1 · 87th Tata Steel Masters · 2025-02-02
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2777) – GM Levon Aronian (2767) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com Speed 3m+1spm 2018 · 2018-12-01
- GM Yi Wei (2753) – GM Yangyi Yu (2744) 1/2-1/2 · Huocheng Xinjiang Rapid · 2017-08-03
- GM Yi Wei (2753) – GM Yangyi Yu (2744) 0-1 · Huocheng Xinjiang TB · 2017-08-03
Search all games of the Petrov's Defense: Paulsen Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- TheorySpeedrun (2718) – CM Romaa2011 (2757) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Rumple_DarkOne (2582) – GM srihari241105 (2675) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- lackbiTe65 (2617) – knakwurst (2592) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 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.