Philidor Defense: Nimzowitsch, Locock Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Ng5
The Philidor Defense: Nimzowitsch, Locock Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C41, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Ng5. 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 22 times by this move order. White won 59%, 0% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 4… exd4 (32% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.11 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 4… exd4 5. Bc4 d5 6. exd5 Bb4+ 7. c3)
- ECO
- C41
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/3p1n2/4p1N1/3PP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 2 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Ng5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 19 | |
| 1500-1999 | 3 | |
| All | 22 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… exd4 | 7 (32%) | |
| 4… Nxe4 | 5 (23%) | |
| 4… Bg4 | 4 (18%) | |
| 4… h6 | 3 (14%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 2 (9%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 1 (5%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- amirkianijam (1731) – Sharmin001 (1753) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Planetoid49 (1704) – Abhishek43Roinda (1741) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 1800 + 0s
- avgpinacolada (1494) – MadeInBelarus (1553) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Philidor Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation (3. d4 Nf6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. 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.