Tree path 5 levels King's Pawn Game › King's Knight Opening › Petrov's Defense › Petrov's Defense › Petrov's Defense
- Chess Codex
- King's Pawn Game C20
- King's Knight Opening C40
- Petrov's Defense C42
- Petrov's Defense C42
- Petrov's Defense C42 you are here
Petrov's Defense
Overview
Petrov's Defense is a named branch in the Open Games group of chess theory, classified under ECO C42.
The Open Games group covers open games — classical 1.e4 e5 openings where both sides contest the centre directly with pawns.
It begins with 6 plies and takes 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 to reach the canonical position.
In the opening tree, this line branches off from Petrov's Defense, part of the broader King's Pawn Game system.
4 named variations grow from this line, including Petrov's Defense, Cochrane Gambit, Karklins-Martinovsky Variation, and others.
Together the deeper variations number 28 across the full subtree.
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
- C42
- Group
- Open Games (C)
- Plies
- 6
- Parent
- Petrov's Defense
- Direct variations
- 4
- Total in subtree
- 28
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
5,047,038 games · White 49.0% / Draw 6.6% / Black 44.4%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Nf3 | 4,354,942 | |
| Nxf7 | 378,781 | |
| Nc4 | 194,175 | |
| Nd3 | 96,622 | |
| Ng4 | 5,680 | |
| Bb5+ | 5,294 | |
| d4 | 4,067 | |
| f3 | 2,165 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:26:15
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Variations (4)
Show all 28 sub-variations (full subtree)
- C42 Petrov's Defense 7-ply
- C42 Cochrane Gambit 7-ply
- C42 Karklins-Martinovsky Variation 7-ply
- C42 Paulsen Attack 7-ply
- C42 Petrov's Defense 8-ply
- C42 Bishop Check Line 9-ply
- C42 Center Variation 9-ply
- C42 Classical Attack 9-ply
- C42 Cozio Attack 9-ply
- C42 French Attack 9-ply
- C42 Kaufmann Attack 9-ply
- C42 Millennium Attack 9-ply
- C42 Nimzowitsch Attack 9-ply
- C42 Chigorin Variation 15-ply
- C42 Closed Variation 10-ply
- C42 Marshall Variation 12-ply
- C42 Mason Variation 14-ply
- C42 Mason-Showalter Variation 12-ply
- C42 Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Berger Variation 19-ply
- C42 Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Jaenisch Variation 15-ply
- C42 Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Krause Variation 19-ply
- C42 Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Maróczy Variation 20-ply
- C42 Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Staunton Variation 16-ply
- C42 Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Tarrasch Variation 16-ply
- C42 Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Chigorin Variation, Browne Attack 17-ply
- C42 Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Chigorin Variation, Main Line 17-ply
- C42 Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Marshall Trap 20-ply
- C42 Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Marshall Variation, Chinese Gambit 18-ply