Philidor Defense: Lion Variation, Shirov Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7 4. Nc3 Ngf6 5. g4
The Philidor Defense: Lion Variation, Shirov Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C41, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7 4. Nc3 Ngf6 5. g4. 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 4 times by this move order. White won 25%, 0% were drawn and Black won 75%. The most popular continuation is 5… Nxg4 (75% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.10 (Stockfish, depth 49; best line 5… Nxg4 6. Rg1 Ngf6 7. Bc4 h6 8. a4)
- ECO
- C41
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppn1ppp/3p1n2/4p3/3PP1P1/2N2N2/PPP2P1P/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7 4. Nc3 Ngf6 5. g4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 3 | |
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 4 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Nxg4 | 3 (75%) | |
| 5… Be7 | 1 (25%) |
Master games
11 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 27%, draw 18%, Black 55%). The strongest:
- FM Rick Frischmann (2306) – FM Nicolas Perossa (2320) 0-1 · 1st 3-0 Thu 11th Dec 2025 · 2025-12-11
- FM Dion Krivenko (2244) – IM Vuk Damjanovic (2364) 0-1 · Titled Tue 17th Sep Early · 2024-09-17
- IM Shamil Arslanov (2416) – Vladimir Pogosian (2150) 1-0 · Botvinnik Memorial 2012 · 2012-08-29
- FM Serhan Berat Ozdemir (2117) – GM Homayoon Toufighi (2439) 0-1 · Marmaris Karya-19 GM 2022 · 2022-05-19
- WIM Svetlana Moskalets (2176) – WGM Zeinab Mamedjarova (2363) 0-1 · 8th Sharjah Cup for Women · 2017-12-16
Search all games of the Philidor Defense: Lion Variation, Shirov Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- aybars_alper_tunga (2093) – mohantaj (1998) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 600 + 5s
- ripchord (1951) – sauhardyaroy (2016) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- Hmoody (1905) – IronIran (1916) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
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.