Philidor Defense: Philidor Countergambit, Zukertort Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 f5 4. Nc3
The Philidor Defense: Philidor Countergambit, Zukertort Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C41, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 f5 4. Nc3. 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 144 times by this move order. White won 52%, 4% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 4… fxe4 (44% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.34 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 4… fxe4 5. Nxe4 Nf6 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Bxf6)
- ECO
- C41
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp3pp/3p4/4pp2/3PP3/2N2N2/PPP2PPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 f5 4. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 70 | |
| 1500-1999 | 62 | |
| 2000+ | 12 | |
| All | 144 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… fxe4 | 63 (44%) | |
| 4… Nf6 | 23 (16%) | |
| 4… exd4 | 17 (12%) | |
| 4… f4 | 15 (10%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 10 (7%) | |
| 4… c6 | 4 (3%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 2 (1%) | |
| 4… Nd7 | 2 (1%) |
Master games
30 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 67%, draw 0%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Mikhail Golubev (2461) – Arne Moll (2217) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 2nd June · 2020-06-02
- IM Christopher Woojin Yoo (2455) – CM Arne Moll (2217) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 16th June · 2020-06-16
- FM Sergey Tugaj (2247) – IM Shamil Arslanov (2410) 0-1 · Titled Tue 11th Aug 2026 · 2026-08-11
- GM Jozsef Horvath (2514) – FM Giuseppe Edoardo Fabiano (2042) 1-0 · 12th Amantea Open 2014 · 2014-09-07
- FM Filip Haring (2306) – Arne Moll (2217) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 2nd June · 2020-06-02
Highest-rated Lichess games
- DrMenghy (2262) – zurchess (2151) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- Malabu (2177) – vahidvahedi (2144) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 300 + 0s
- JuniorRJ (2108) – vahidvahedi (2169) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Philidor Defense: Philidor Countergambit 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 f5
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.