Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation, Schlechter Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7 4. Bc4 c6 5. Nc3
The Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation, Schlechter Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C41, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7 4. Bc4 c6 5. Nc3. It is a line of the Philidor Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 45 times by this move order. White won 36%, 2% were drawn and Black won 62%. The most popular continuation is 5… Be7 (76% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.38 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 5… Be7 6. a4 Ngf6 7. O-O O-O 8. h3)
- ECO
- C41
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pp1n1ppp/2pp4/4p3/2BPP3/2N2N2/PPP2PPP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7 4. Bc4 c6 5. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 26 | |
| 2000+ | 17 | |
| All | 45 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Be7 | 34 (76%) | |
| 5… h6 | 6 (13%) | |
| 5… Qc7 | 3 (7%) | |
| 5… a5 | 1 (2%) | |
| 5… b5 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
34 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 47%, draw 18%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- GM Anton Demchenko (2651) – GM Pavel Ponkratov (2659) 1/2-1/2 · Speed Chess GP3 2021 · 2021-10-02
- GM Pavel Kotsur (2517) – IM Mikhailo Shinkarev (2314) 1-0 · Bogdanovich Mem Final · 2021-02-13
- IM Pierre Bailet (2500) – FM Peio Duboue (2291) 1-0 · 10th Angers Open 2015 · 2015-04-26
- IM Joan Fluvia Poyatos (2512) – Joan Canal Oliveras (2232) 1-0 · TCh-CAT Gp1 2015 · 2015-02-21
- Nikita Kazantsev (2244) – FM Dmitrij Solonkov (2449) 1-0 · TCh-RUS Major League 2017 · 2017-05-09
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM SuperMishutka (2423) – IM kamblefy (2495) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- lyxxj (2406) – ricjimenez_50 (2231) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
- unichtozhitel2222 (2232) – Jamshidatri (2245) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7
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.