Philidor Defense: Lion Variation, Sozin Variation
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Qe2 c6 8. a4 exd4
The Philidor Defense: Lion Variation, Sozin Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C41, reached after 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Qe2 c6 8. a4 exd4. It is a line of the Philidor Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2 times by this move order. White won 50%, 50% were drawn and Black won 0%. The most popular continuation is 9. Nxd4 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 9. Nxd4 Re8 10. Qd1 Bf8 11. Re1 a5)
- ECO
- C41
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pp1nbppp/2pp1n2/8/P1BpP3/2N2N2/1PP1QPPP/R1B2RK1 w - - 0 9- PGN
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Qe2 c6 8. a4 exd4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 2 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9. Nxd4 | 2 (100%) |
Master games
22 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 14%, draw 41%, Black 45%). The strongest:
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802) – GM Vahap Sanal (2567) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 30th Jul Early · 2024-07-30
- GM Sankalp Gupta (2534) – GM Victor Bologan (2598) 0-1 · Julius Baer Gen Cup Pl/In · 2024-09-25
- FM Viktor Gazik (2445) – GM Robert Markus (2628) 1/2-1/2 · 45th Bosna Open 2015 · 2015-05-31
- GM Zaven Andriasian (2622) – FM Dmitriy Khegay (2375) 0-1 · 10th Zudov Mem 2014 · 2014-09-13
- IM Janos Konnyu (2328) – GM Robert Ruck (2567) 0-1 · TCh-HUN 2012-13 · 2012-10-07
Search all games of the Philidor Defense: Lion Variation, Sozin Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- pop-up (2569) – GM mircica (2658) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- CM rocky73 (2406) – vleskovura (2329) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Pirc Defense (2. d4 Nf6) 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6
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 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.