Philidor Defense: Philidor Countergambit, del Rio Attack
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 f5 4. dxe5 fxe4 5. Ng5 d5 6. e6
The Philidor Defense: Philidor Countergambit, del Rio Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C41, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 f5 4. dxe5 fxe4 5. Ng5 d5 6. e6. It is a line of the Philidor Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 49 times by this move order. White won 47%, 0% were drawn and Black won 53%. The most popular continuation is 6… Nh6 (59% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.61 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 6… Nf6 7. Nf7 Qe7 8. Nxh8 Bxe6 9. Nc3)
- ECO
- C41
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp3pp/4P3/3p2N1/4p3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 f5 4. dxe5 fxe4 5. Ng5 d5 6. e6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3 | |
| 1500-1999 | 34 | |
| 2000+ | 12 | |
| All | 49 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Nh6 | 29 (59%) | |
| 6… Bc5 | 9 (18%) | |
| 6… Be7 | 5 (10%) | |
| 6… Nf6 | 4 (8%) | |
| 6… Qf6 | 1 (2%) | |
| 6… h6 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
22 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 9%, Black 50%). The strongest:
- FM Jorge Proietti Cobas (2216) – FM Jonathan Pein (2320) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 18th Aug 2026 · 2026-08-18
- IM Rahman Mohammad Fahad (2319) – CM Arne Moll (2217) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 7th July · 2020-07-07
- CM Yuri Kozin (2251) – FM Erik Ronka (2273) 0-1 · Titled Tue 22nd Aug Early · 2023-08-22
- WGM Myroslava Hrabinska (2235) – CM Arne Moll (2217) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 7th July · 2020-07-07
- WGM Khayala Abdulla (2219) – FM Aran Kohler (2121) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 12th Oct · 2021-10-12
Highest-rated Lichess games
- ilalchemer (2278) – zurchess (2143) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
- lincolnp (2112) – vahidvahedi (2127) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- mohamed2morsy (2198) – Juanitonix (2036) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Philidor Defense: Philidor Countergambit 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 f5
Continuations
- Philidor Defense: Philidor Countergambit, Berger Variation C41 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 f5 4. dxe5 fxe4 5. Ng5 d5 6. e6 Bc5 7. Nc3
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.