Philidor Defense: Albin-Blackburne Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. dxe5 Nd7
The Philidor Defense: Albin-Blackburne Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C41, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. dxe5 Nd7. It is a line of the Philidor Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 301 times by this move order. White won 48%, 4% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 5. exd6 (83% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.94 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 5. exd6 Bxd6 6. Be2 Bxf3 7. Bxf3 Qe7)
- ECO
- C41
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r2qkbnr/pppn1ppp/3p4/4P3/4P1b1/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. dxe5 Nd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 59 | |
| 1500-1999 | 160 | |
| 2000+ | 82 | |
| All | 301 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. exd6 | 250 (83%) | |
| 5. Be2 | 17 (6%) | |
| 5. Bc4 | 10 (3%) | |
| 5. e6 | 8 (3%) | |
| 5. h3 | 7 (2%) | |
| 5. Bf4 | 3 (1%) | |
| 5. Nc3 | 2 (1%) | |
| 5. Bb5 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
130 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 16%, Black 39%). The strongest:
- GM Anton Demchenko (2654) – IM Georgios Souleidis (2430) 1-0 · Titled Tue 17th May Late · 2022-05-17
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2682) – FM Maksym Goroshkov (2366) 1-0 · Grand Prix PlusCity Blitz · 2025-05-29
- GM Anton Demchenko (2623) – IM Georgios Souleidis (2419) 1-0 · Titled Tue 25th Apr Early · 2023-04-25
- GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2690) – FM Maksym Goroshkov (2336) 1-0 · Titled Tue 27th Feb Late · 2024-02-27
- GM Alexander Donchenko (2633) – FM Maksym Goroshkov (2363) 1-0 · Titled Tue 2nd Apr Early · 2024-04-02
Search all games of the Philidor Defense: Albin-Blackburne Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- orhanilu (2522) – EL_Primo_De_Pacho (2432) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- zcpylq (2521) – EL_Primo_De_Pacho (2406) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- NewLifeAndRestart (2465) – EL_Primo_De_Pacho (2426) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Philidor Defense (2… d6 3. d4) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4
More Philidor Defense lines (all)
- Philidor Defense (2. Nf3 d6) C41
- Philidor Defense (2… d6 3. Bc4) C41
- Philidor Defense (3. Bc4 Be7) C41
- Philidor Defense: Berger Variation C41
- Philidor Defense: Bird Gambit C41
- Philidor Defense: Boden Variation C41
- Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation (3. d4 exd4) C41
- Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation (3… exd4 4. Nxd4) C41
- Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation (4. Nxd4 Nf6) C41
- Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation C41
- Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation, Delmar Variation C41
- Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation, Krause Variation C41
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.