Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation (3… exd4 4. Nxd4)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4
The Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C41, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4. It is a line of the Philidor Defense. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 34,680 times by this move order. White won 51%, 5% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 4… Nf6 (32% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.50 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4… Nf6 5. Nc3 Be7 6. Bf4 Nc6 7. Qd2)
- ECO
- C41
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/3p4/8/3NP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 11,178 | |
| 1500-1999 | 21,070 | |
| 2000+ | 2,432 | |
| All | 34,680 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Nf6 Exchange Variation (4. Nxd4 Nf6) | 11,197 (32%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 5,644 (16%) | |
| 4… c5 | 5,144 (15%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 3,480 (10%) | |
| 4… Bd7 | 3,279 (9%) | |
| 4… h6 | 1,357 (4%) | |
| 4… g6 Larsen Variation | 1,083 (3%) | |
| 4… a6 | 650 (2%) |
Master games
291 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 69%, draw 11%, Black 20%). The strongest:
- GM Ivan Salgado Lopez (2616) – IM Ann Matnadze Bujiashvili (2368) 1-0 · 1st Neoclassical Masters · 2015-05-09
- GM Erik Blomqvist (2525) – FM Henri Pohjala (2408) 0-1 · TCh-SWE Elitserien · 2015-03-20
- GM Vladislav Kovalev (2558) – Aleksandr Kocheev (2360) 1-0 · 9th Gora Sw. Anny Open · 2016-02-09
- GM Vignir Vatnar Stefansson (2515) – FM Artyom Bogdanov (2370) 1-0 · Titled Tue 1st Jul Late · 2025-07-01
- IM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy (2403) – GM David Larino Nieto (2420) 1/2-1/2 · III Colonia GM 2024 · 2024-10-20
Search all games of the Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- sunchess137 (2711) – RoryMcCann (2685) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Yakamuzosan (2697) – ChessGodSlayerKing (2685) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Yakamuzosan (2697) – ChessGodSlayerKing (2686) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation (3. d4 exd4) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4
Continuations
- Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation (4. Nxd4 Nf6) C41 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
- Philidor Defense: Larsen Variation C41 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 g6
- Philidor Defense: Paulsen Attack C41 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 d5 5. exd5
More Philidor Defense lines (all)
- Philidor Defense (2. Nf3 d6) C41
- Philidor Defense (2… d6 3. d4) C41
- Philidor Defense (2… d6 3. Bc4) C41
- Philidor Defense (3. Bc4 Be7) C41
- Philidor Defense: Albin-Blackburne Gambit C41
- Philidor Defense: Berger Variation C41
- Philidor Defense: Bird Gambit C41
- Philidor Defense: Boden Variation C41
- Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation C41
- Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation, Delmar Variation C41
- Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation, Krause Variation C41
- Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation, Schlechter 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.