Philidor Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation (3… Nf6 4. dxe5)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. dxe5
The Philidor Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C41, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. dxe5. It is a line of the Philidor Defense. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,951 times by this move order. White won 56%, 6% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 4… Nxe4 (58% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.72 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 4… Nxe4 5. Qd5 Nc5 6. Bg5 Qd7 7. exd6)
- ECO
- C41
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/3p1n2/4P3/4P3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. dxe5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,201 | |
| 1500-1999 | 640 | |
| 2000+ | 110 | |
| All | 1,951 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Nxe4 | 1,141 (58%) | |
| 4… dxe5 | 722 (37%) | |
| 4… Nfd7 | 30 (2%) | |
| 4… Ng4 | 29 (1%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 6 (0%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 6 (0%) | |
| 4… h6 | 4 (0%) | |
| 4… Bg4 | 4 (0%) |
Master games
52 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 62%, draw 15%, Black 23%). The strongest:
- IM Christophe Sochacki (2477) – GM Parham Maghsoodloo (2676) 0-1 · Cappelle Online Bullet · 2021-03-05
- IM Nikolay Noritsyn (2473) – GM Bator Sambuev (2513) 1-0 · ch-CAN TB Rapid 2017 · 2017-07-01
- IM Aksel Bu Kvaloy (2482) – FM Jorge Soto Vega (2353) 0-1 · Titled Tue 17th Sep Early · 2024-09-17
- IM Vahap Sanal (2450) – IM Zoran Novoselski (2374) 1-0 · Grand Europe Albena 2014 · 2014-06-08
- FM Tibor Kende Antal (2317) – GM Zbigniew Pakleza (2498) 0-1 · Reykjavik Open 2015 · 2015-03-15
Search all games of the Philidor Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Vnebo (2684) – Rawhen (2502) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- giantgooga2 (2475) – Rawhen (2536) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- uuygun007 (2485) – Rawhen (2511) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Philidor Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation (3. d4 Nf6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6
Continuations
- Philidor Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation, Rellstab Variation C41 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. dxe5 Nxe4 5. Qd5
- Philidor Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation, Sokolsky Variation C41 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. dxe5 Nxe4 5. Nbd2
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.