Philidor Defense: Lion Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nbd7
The Philidor Defense: Lion Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C41, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nbd7. It is a line of the Philidor Defense. White is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 76 times by this move order. White won 42%, 5% were drawn and Black won 53%. The most popular continuation is 5. Bc4 (54% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.44 (Stockfish, depth 56; best line 5. Bc4 Be7 6. a4 O-O 7. O-O exd4)
- ECO
- C41
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppn1ppp/3p1n2/4p3/3PP3/2N2N2/PPP2PPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 3 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nbd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 7 | |
| 1500-1999 | 10 | |
| 2000+ | 59 | |
| All | 76 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Bc4 | 41 (54%) | |
| 5. Bg5 | 9 (12%) | |
| 5. dxe5 | 8 (11%) | |
| 5. Rg1 | 6 (8%) | |
| 5. g4 | 5 (7%) | |
| 5. Be2 | 4 (5%) | |
| 5. h3 | 1 (1%) | |
| 5. d5 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
238 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 21%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Bassem Amin (2654) – GM Baadur Jobava (2705) 1/2-1/2 · Al-Ain Classic Open A 2013 · 2013-12-23
- GM Jorden Van Foreest (2615) – GM Ivan Sokolov (2623) 1-0 · Van Foreest-Sokolov m · 2016-10-17
- GM David W L Howell (2644) – GM Parham Maghsoodloo (2584) 1-0 · World Rapid 2016 · 2016-12-26
- GM Robin Van Kampen (2636) – GM Bator Sambuev (2526) 1/2-1/2 · 51st Canadian Open 2014 · 2014-07-26
- GM Eric Hansen (2583) – GM Bator Sambuev (2532) 1/2-1/2 · ch-CAN 2015 · 2015-07-14
Search all games of the Philidor Defense: Lion Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- T-80BVM (2699) – IM Angelicanmade (2519) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- GeForceExperience (2595) – IM Shukh_Nikolay (2607) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- spngu (2530) – Rawhen (2530) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Philidor Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation (3. d4 Nf6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6
Continuations
- Philidor Defense: Lion Variation, Bishop Sacrifice C41 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. Bxf7+
- Philidor Defense: Lion Variation, Lion's Claw, with Bc4 and h6 C41 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. O-O h6
- Philidor Defense: Lion Variation, Lion's Claw, with Be2 and c6 C41 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Be2 Be7 6. O-O c6
- Philidor Defense: Nimzowitsch, Larobok Variation C41 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. Ng5 O-O 7. Bxf7+
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.