Philidor Defense: Lopez Countergambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 f5
The Philidor Defense: Lopez Countergambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C41, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 f5. 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 2,923 times by this move order. White won 52%, 2% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 4. d3 (40% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.61 (Stockfish, depth 32; best line 4. d4 Nc6 5. Ng5 Nh6 6. d5 Ne7)
- ECO
- C41
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp3pp/3p4/4pp2/2B1P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 f5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,501 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,304 | |
| 2000+ | 118 | |
| All | 2,923 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. d3 | 1,177 (40%) | |
| 4. exf5 | 931 (32%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 354 (12%) | |
| 4. d4 | 242 (8%) | |
| 4. O-O | 66 (2%) | |
| 4. Bxg8 | 55 (2%) | |
| 4. Ng5 | 32 (1%) | |
| 4. c3 | 22 (1%) |
Master games
12 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 25%, Black 25%). The strongest:
- Liudmyla Ivanytska (2180) – IM Shamil Arslanov (2410) 0-1 · 1st 3-0 Thu 13th Aug 2026 · 2026-08-13
- FM Jonasz Baum (2373) – Arne Moll (2217) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 26th May · 2020-05-26
- Miroljub Trpkovic (1940) – Vladisa Zivkovic (1787) 1/2-1/2 · ch-Central Serbia 2015 · 2015-03-12
- Martin Bebjak (1912) – Richard Sedlacek (1628) 1-0 · V4 Int Open ch-SVK 2013 · 2013-07-07
- Abeer Alrasheed (1374) – AbdulRahman Alhazzaa (1398) 1/2-1/2 · Budapest Spring Open 2016 · 2016-03-22
Search all games of the Philidor Defense: Lopez Countergambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- imortalis (2295) – elida7 (2235) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 300 + 0s
- Jafarov23 (2209) – dikkebertha (2215) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- ZLV (2203) – dikkebertha (2219) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Philidor Defense (2… d6 3. Bc4) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4
More Philidor Defense lines (all)
- Philidor Defense (2. Nf3 d6) C41
- Philidor Defense (2… d6 3. d4) 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
- 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.