Philidor Defense: Philidor Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bd7
The Philidor Defense: Philidor Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C41, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bd7. It is a line of the Philidor Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 222 times by this move order. White won 54%, 3% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 4. dxe5 (62% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.32 (Stockfish, depth 31; best line 4. dxe5 Nc6 5. Bg5 Be7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7)
- ECO
- C41
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rn1qkbnr/pppb1ppp/3p4/4p3/3PP3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 161 | |
| 1500-1999 | 61 | |
| All | 222 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. dxe5 | 138 (62%) | |
| 4. d5 | 28 (13%) | |
| 4. Bc4 | 23 (10%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 13 (6%) | |
| 4. Ng5 | 4 (2%) | |
| 4. Bg5 | 3 (1%) | |
| 4. c3 | 3 (1%) | |
| 4. Bd3 | 3 (1%) |
Master games
4 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 100%, draw 0%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- WCM Patricia Evarista Castillo Pena (1788) – FM Mauricio Vargas Benavides (2125) 1-0 · Titled Tue 22nd Nov Late · 2022-11-22
Search all games of the Philidor Defense: Philidor Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- MIG777 (1999) – papanBawah (1969) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Storky (2003) – Barnb1 (1965) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- ashallashall (1942) – Barnb1 (1965) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Philidor Defense (2… d6 3. d4) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4
More Philidor Defense lines (all)
- Philidor Defense (2. Nf3 d6) 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
- Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation, Delmar 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.