Philidor Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation, Klein Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Bc4
The Philidor Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation, Klein Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C41, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Bc4. 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 104 times by this move order. White won 57%, 3% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 4… Nxe4 (36% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.30 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 4… exd4 5. Nxd4 Be7 6. Nc3 O-O 7. O-O)
- ECO
- C41
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/3p1n2/4p3/2BPP3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 2 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Bc4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 82 | |
| 1500-1999 | 18 | |
| 2000+ | 4 | |
| All | 104 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Nxe4 | 37 (36%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 13 (13%) | |
| 4… exd4 | 11 (11%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 10 (10%) | |
| 4… Be6 | 7 (7%) | |
| 4… Bg4 | 6 (6%) | |
| 4… Qe7 | 6 (6%) | |
| 4… h6 | 5 (5%) |
Master games
7 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 29%, draw 42%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- CM Michael Wiander (2249) – CM Karl-Olof Cederberg (2204) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-SWE Superettan · 2017-03-05
- Rafael Duje (2266) – FM Martin Madina Yadarola (2165) 1-0 · ITT Mendoza IM 2020 · 2020-01-28
- Dragomir Sokic (2166) – Akos Pletl (2220) 1/2-1/2 · 23rd Battle of Senta Open · 2019-07-24
- Jose Maria Sanchez Dengra (2134) – FM Javier Buenafe Moya (2229) 1/2-1/2 · 47th Mislata Open · 2013-08-19
- Eric Sommerhalder (2145) – Vladislav Machala (2020) 0-1 · 5th Prague Summer Open · 2018-08-09
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Fancy-Bear (2212) – Inciapter (2161) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- bloodymariel (2043) – CapozXVII (2019) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 300 + 0s
- powerfulbishops (2006) – Ecos2 (2035) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 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.