Petrov's Defense: Stafford Gambit Accepted (5. Nc3 Bc5)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nc6 4. Nxc6 dxc6 5. Nc3 Bc5
The Petrov's Defense: Stafford Gambit Accepted is a chess opening classified as ECO C42, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nc6 4. Nxc6 dxc6 5. Nc3 Bc5. It is a line of the Petrov's Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4,045 times by this move order. White won 40%, 3% were drawn and Black won 57%. The most popular continuation is 6. Bc4 (33% of games).
Engine evaluation: +2.02 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 6. h3 Be6 7. d3 Qd7 8. f4 O-O-O)
- ECO
- C42
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/ppp2ppp/2p2n2/2b5/4P3/2N5/PPPP1PPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 2 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nc6 4. Nxc6 dxc6 5. Nc3 Bc5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,861 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,000 | |
| 2000+ | 184 | |
| All | 4,045 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Bc4 | 1,335 (33%) | |
| 6. h3 | 1,056 (26%) | |
| 6. d3 | 629 (16%) | |
| 6. Be2 | 436 (11%) | |
| 6. d4 | 202 (5%) | |
| 6. e5 | 87 (2%) | |
| 6. f3 | 75 (2%) | |
| 6. Qe2 | 64 (2%) |
Master games
179 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 9%, Black 50%). The strongest:
- GM Artur Gabrielian (2472) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2758) 0-1 · Titled Tue 27th Sep Late · 2022-09-27
- GM Pavel V. Tregubov (2560) – FM Petros Trimitzios (2353) 0-1 · Speed Chess Super Swiss · 2020-10-03
- GM Sergey Erenburg (2510) – IM Eric Rosen (2377) 0-1 · World Blitz 2024 · 2024-12-30
- FM Nagare Kaivalya Sandip (2327) – GM Aksel Bu Kvaloy (2492) 1-0 · Titled Tue 9th Dec 2025 · 2025-12-09
- FM Ettore Stromboli (2308) – IM V Pranav (2486) 0-1 · Titled Tue 1st Mar Early · 2022-03-01
Search all games of the Petrov's Defense: Stafford Gambit Accepted and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- ludwis (2486) – xxzazaxx (2497) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Moepje (2450) – Nimrod66 (2479) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Kot1970 (2383) – J3742 (2424) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Petrov's Defense: Stafford Gambit Accepted (4. Nxc6 dxc6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nc6 4. Nxc6 dxc6
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 (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
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.