Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation, Krause Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7 4. Bc4 c6 5. O-O
The Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation, Krause Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C41, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7 4. Bc4 c6 5. O-O. It is a line of the Philidor Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 101 times by this move order. White won 43%, 3% were drawn and Black won 54%. The most popular continuation is 5… Be7 (77% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.85 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 5… exd4 6. Qxd4 Ngf6 7. e5 dxe5 8. Nxe5)
- ECO
- C41
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pp1n1ppp/2pp4/4p3/2BPP3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7 4. Bc4 c6 5. O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 43 | |
| 2000+ | 56 | |
| All | 101 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Be7 | 78 (77%) | |
| 5… h6 | 10 (10%) | |
| 5… Qc7 | 7 (7%) | |
| 5… b5 | 4 (4%) | |
| 5… exd4 | 1 (1%) | |
| 5… b6 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
65 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 20%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Alexander Areshchenko (2710) – GM Marat Makarov (2516) 1-0 · Chigorin Memorial · 2012-10-30
- GM Robin Van Kampen (2641) – Irakli Beradze (2318) 1-0 · World Junior Open 2014 · 2014-10-18
- IM Roberto Junio Brito Molina (2399) – GM Andres Rodriguez Vila (2490) 1-0 · 2nd Oscar Panno GM · 2013-05-16
- GM Martyn Kravtsiv (2598) – FM Mahdi Nikookar (2216) 1-0 · Titled Tue 1st Jul Early · 2025-07-01
- FM Harry Grieve (2351) – IM Mahammad Zulfugarli (2426) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 6th Apr · 2021-04-06
Search all games of the Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation, Krause Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- CM sami82xp (2365) – IM kamblefy (2457) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- Vagabund15 (2391) – pIn_a (2364) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- No_Need_To_Cry (2425) – taumen (2293) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7
Continuations
- Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation, Steiner Variation C41 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7 4. Bc4 c6 5. O-O Be7 6. dxe5
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: 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, Delmar 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.