Tree path 7 levels King's Pawn Game › Pirc Defense › Pirc Defense › Pirc Defense › Lion Defense › Anti-Philidor › Lion's Cave

B07

Lion Defense: Anti-Philidor, Lion's Cave

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Overview

Lion Defense: Anti-Philidor, Lion's Cave is a named branch in the Semi-Open Games group of chess theory, classified under ECO B07.

The Semi-Open Games group covers semi-open games — replies to 1.e4 where Black declines the symmetrical 1…e5 in favour of an asymmetric pawn structure.

It begins with 8 plies and takes 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. f4 e5 to reach the canonical position.

In the opening tree, this line branches off from Lion Defense: Anti-Philidor, part of the broader King's Pawn Game system.

It continues primarily into one named line, Lion Claw Gambit.

Use the board to walk through every move, check how the position has scored on Lichess, or take it head-to-head against Stockfish.

ECO code: B07
Group: Semi-Open Games (B)
Plies: 8
Parent: Lion Defense: Anti-Philidor
Direct variations: 1

This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Statistics from Lichess

325,445 games · White 48.8% / Draw 5.4% / Black 45.8%

Moves	Games	W / D / B
Nf3	145,433
fxe5	88,505
dxe5	75,284
d5	8,344
f5	3,966
Be3	1,965
Bc4	1,077
Bd3	156

Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:47:12

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Variations (1)

B07 Lion Claw Gambit