Caissa Codex
C43

Petrov's Defense: Modern Attack, Tal Gambit

Chess diagram: Petrov's Defense: Modern Attack, Tal Gambit after 5. Bb5

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.

Statistics from Lichess

226 games: White 66.4% / Draw 4.4% / Black 29.2%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
144144
3636
1414
1010
88
88
22
22

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 9, 2026

Engine evaluation

−0.15 The position is about equal

Best play: 5... Nc6 6. O-O a6 7. Bc4 Be7 8. Bd5 Nc5 9. c3 dxc3 10. Nxc3

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

Overview

Petrov's Defense: Modern Attack, Tal Gambit (ECO C43, Open Games) is a gambit in Petrov's Defense: Modern Attack, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 exd4 4. e5 Ne4 5. Bb5 (5 moves).

In 226 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 66.4%, Black 29.2% and 4.4% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 5…c6, in 64% of those games.

Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.

Write a description or report a mistake
What would you like to send?

Markdown supported (headings ###, bold, lists, links). Submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 4. e5 Ne4 5. Bb5, the position after Petrov's Defense: Modern Attack also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Petrov's Defense: Modern Attack, Tal Gambit (C43)”. Lichess data as of 9 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/petrovs-defense-modern-attack-tal-gambit

https://chesscodex.org/openings/petrovs-defense-modern-attack-tal-gambit