Philidor Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation, Sokolsky Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. dxe5 Nxe4 5. Nbd2
The Philidor Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation, Sokolsky Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C41, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. dxe5 Nxe4 5. Nbd2. 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 3 times by this move order. White won 100%, 0% were drawn and Black won 0%. The most popular continuation is 5… Nc5 (33% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.29 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 5… Nxd2 6. Bxd2 Be7 7. Bb5+ Nc6 8. Nd4)
- ECO
- C41
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/3p4/4P3/4n3/5N2/PPPN1PPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. dxe5 Nxe4 5. Nbd2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 3 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Nc5 | 1 (33%) | |
| 5… dxe5 | 1 (33%) | |
| 5… Nxd2 | 1 (33%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- slvr (2123) – gvbsbchess (2158) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- RJPpal (1059) – Marques1 (1073) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
- Rabastes (1032) – fargall (1016) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Philidor Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation (3… Nf6 4. dxe5) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. dxe5
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.