Petrov's Defense: Modern Attack
The Modern Attack is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4, White's main alternative to 3.Nxe5 against Petrov's Defense. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
2,947,619 games: White 52.0% / Draw 4.8% / Black 43.1%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 1,295,5361.3M | ||
| 1,233,6661.2M | ||
| 153,324153K | ||
| Philidor Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation | 129,185129K | |
| Symmetrical Variation | 94,40694K | |
| 11,12111K | ||
| 7,0947,094 | ||
| 5,4275,427 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 2, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.26 The position is about equal
Best play: 3... Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7 6. Nxd7 Bxd7 7. O-O Bd6 8. Nc3
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: White scores 54% under 1400, 53% at 2200 and up and 59% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 2.4M | |
| 1400–1799 | 2.4M | |
| 1800–2199 | 1.5M | |
| 2200 and up | 225K | |
| Masters, over the board | 6,417 |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – Nepomniachtchi, I.
- So, W. – Caruana, F.
- Carlsen, M. – Abdusattorov, N.
- Nepomniachtchi, I. – Aronian, L.
- So, W. – Nepomniachtchi, I.
Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 26, 2026
Description
The Modern Attack is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4, White's main alternative to 3.Nxe5 against Petrov's Defense. It is also known as the Steinitz Variation: Wilhelm Steinitz recommended it in his Modern Chess Instructor (1889) and played it three times against Harry Nelson Pillsbury at St. Petersburg 1895-96, winning two games and drawing one. It has become more popular in the 21st century, though it is still played less than 3.Nxe5.
Main lines
Black's most common reply is 3...Nxe4. After White's usual 4.Bd3 the main line goes 4...d5 5.Nxe5.
- 5...Nd7 is the modern move and now predominant, advocated by Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand among others. It drew attention in 1980, when Bent Larsen won with it against Anatoly Karpov after a pawn sacrifice. White usually plays 6.Nxd7 Bxd7 7.O-O, and Black chooses between 7...Be7, 7...Qh4 and the most popular 7...Bd6. 6.Nxf7 is a drawing line: after 6...Kxf7 7.Qh5+ White can force a perpetual check.
- 5...Bd6 is the older symmetrical move, far less common now.
- 4...Nc6, the Murey Variation, is an alternative to 4...d5. The knight on e4 seems to hang, but 5.Bxe4 d5! leaves the bishop without a good square, and 6.Bd3 e4 forks knight and bishop.
The asymmetrical 4.dxe5 is sharper and is not uncommon when White wants to avoid a draw.
Other third moves for Black
After 3...exd4 the usual line is 4.e5 Ne4 5.Qxd4 d5 6.exd6 Nxd6. 4.Bc4 instead transposes to the Urusov Gambit, which is not considered wholly sound. 3...d6 transposes to the Philidor Defense.
The numbers
On Lichess White wins 52.0% of the 2.9 million games and Black 43.1%. White is ahead both under 1400, 52.4% against 43.6%, and from 2200 up, 49.0% against 42.1%. Masters over the board draw most games: in 6,417 games 58.4% were drawn, White won 30.0% and Black only 11.6%.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against Petrov's Defense: Modern Attack
The most played answer, 3…Nxe4, also scores best for Black: 47.7%, with Black winning 44.9% and White 49.5% of 1.3M games. Of the main answers, 3…Nc6 scores lowest: 42.4%. Stockfish's first choice is also 3…Nxe4.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings
Popularity by year
Petrov's Defense: Modern Attack has gained ground since 2016: 0.11% of Lichess games in 2025, up from 0.083% (its peak: 0.13% in 2021).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.083% | 29,586 |
| 2017 | 0.08% | 43,920 |
| 2018 | 0.088% | 69,175 |
| 2019 | 0.089% | 111,405 |
| 2020 | 0.1% | 306,031 |
| 2021 | 0.13% | 500,620 |
| 2022 | 0.12% | 466,123 |
| 2023 | 0.12% | 441,941 |
| 2024 | 0.11% | 409,838 |
| 2025 | 0.11% | 396,312 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.12% | 127,652 |
Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling
Variations (3)
Transpositions
All 9 named lines that continue from here
- C43 Modern Attack 3 moves
- C43 Center Variation 4 moves
- C43 Symmetrical Variation 3 moves
- C43 Center Attack 5 moves
- C43 Petrov's Defense: Modern Attack, Murrey Variation 4 moves
- C43 Steinitz Variation 5 moves
- C43 Tal Gambit 5 moves
- C43 Petrov's Defense: Modern Attack, Trifunovic Variation 7 moves
- C43 Petrov's Defense: Modern Attack, Bardeleben Variation 6 moves
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Petrov's Defence, version of 26 October 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Petrov's Defense: Modern Attack (C43)”. Lichess data as of 2 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/petrovs-defense-modern-attack