Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7
The Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C41, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7. It is a line of the Philidor Defense. White is to move. 6 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4,351 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 4. dxe5 (47% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.61 (Stockfish, depth 52; best line 4. c4 Ne7 5. Nc3 exd4 6. Nxd4 Nc6)
- ECO
- C41
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppn1ppp/3p4/4p3/3PP3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,205 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,250 | |
| 2000+ | 896 | |
| All | 4,351 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. dxe5 | 2,041 (47%) | |
| 4. Bc4 | 939 (22%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 485 (11%) | |
| 4. d5 | 395 (9%) | |
| 4. c4 | 133 (3%) | |
| 4. Bb5 | 97 (2%) | |
| 4. c3 | 86 (2%) | |
| 4. Ng5 | 42 (1%) |
Master games
570 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 49%, draw 17%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Frederik Svane (2668) – GM Yi Wei (2753) 0-1 · World Blitz 2024 · 2024-12-30
- GM David Paravyan (2592) – GM Grigoriy Oparin (2683) 0-1 · Chess.com RCC Wk24 Swiss · 2022-08-06
- GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (2618) – GM Ivan Ivanisevic (2521) 0-1 · Abu Dhabi Masters Online · 2024-08-21
- GM Nihal Sarin (2610) – GM Davit Benidze (2469) 1-0 · TCh-TUR Super League 2019 · 2019-07-21
- GM Gleb Dudin (2545) – GM Ivan Ivanisevic (2519) 1-0 · Julius Baer Gen Cup Pl/In · 2024-09-25
Search all games of the Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Kruciatos (2646) – GM ikica77 (2684) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- lIMITtESTER44 (2668) – askarshahmaty2004 (2547) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- Futurexxx (2656) – IM Angelicanmade (2526) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Philidor Defense (2… d6 3. d4) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4
Continuations
- Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation, Sharp Variation C41 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7 4. Bc4 Nb6
- Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation, Delmar Variation C41 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7 4. Bc4 c6 5. c3
- Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation, Krause Variation C41 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7 4. Bc4 c6 5. O-O
- Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation, Schlechter Variation C41 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7 4. Bc4 c6 5. Nc3
- Philidor Defense: Hanham, Kmoch Variation C41 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7 4. Bc4 c6 5. Ng5
- Philidor Defense: Lion Variation, Shirov Gambit C41 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7 4. Nc3 Ngf6 5. g4
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: 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, Steiner Variation C41
- Philidor Defense: Larsen 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.