Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation
The Exchange Variation of the Philidor Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4) is Black's most common answer to 3.d4. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
12,286,817 games: White 52.6% / Draw 4.9% / Black 42.6%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 9,254,8489.3M | ||
| 1,621,0631.6M | ||
| Philidor Defense: Morphy Gambit | 907,606908K | |
| Philidor Defense: Bird Gambit | 410,899411K | |
| 48,57449K | ||
| 10,50911K | ||
| 8,3738,373 | ||
| 7,6677,667 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 4, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.65 White is slightly better
Best play: 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Be7 6. Bf4 Nc6 7. Qd2 O-O 8. O-O-O Nxd4
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
The stronger the players, the worse this line does for Black: Black scores 48% under 1400, 45% at 2200 and up and 44% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 3.8M | |
| 1400–1799 | 10.8M | |
| 1800–2199 | 6M | |
| 2200 and up | 294K | |
| Masters, over the board | 4,069 |
Master games
- Dominguez Perez, L. – Carlsen, M.
- Karjakin, S. – Carlsen, M.
- Carlsen, M. – Mamedyarov, S.
- Carlsen, M. – Dubov, D.
- Grischuk, A. – Dubov, D.
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 Exchange Variation of the Philidor Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4) is Black's most common answer to 3.d4. Black relieves the central tension, although it gives up the centre.
Origins
The Philidor became a popular opening after François-André Danican Philidor advocated 2...d6, though he himself recommended the risky 3.d4 f5!?. It appeared in the famous Opera Game of 1858, in which Paul Morphy beat two strong amateurs, the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard. The defence then declined as positional play developed and had almost vanished from top-level chess by the First World War. Its popularity in master play has risen slightly over the last two decades, and it is fairly popular in rapid, blitz and bullet.
The idea
After 3...exd4 White usually recaptures with the knight. Black develops with ...Nf6, ...Be7 and ...O-O and gets a compact defensive position, at the cost of less space.
Main lines
- 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7, the main line, called the Antoshin Variation after Vladimir Antoshin; Levon Aronian is a modern exponent. Black gets a strong defensive position after 6...O-O. White's sixth moves include 6.Bf4, which has become more popular, 6.g3, 6.Be2 and 6.Bc4; a typical line is 6.Bf4 O-O 7.Qd2 Nc6 8.O-O-O Nxd4 9.Qxd4.
- 4.Nxd4 g6, the Larsen Variation, fianchettoing the bishop; Bent Larsen played it in a few games, including a draw with Mikhail Tal in 1969.
- 4.Nxd4 d5 5.exd5, the rare Paulsen Attack.
- 4.Qxd4, which Paul Morphy favoured, intending 4...Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Bxc6 Bxc6 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.Bg5 and long castling; it was played in many 19th-century games.
Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
- A strong defensive position once Black has castled.
- Clear, simple development with ...Nf6, ...Be7 and ...O-O.
Weaknesses
- Black gives up the centre, so White gets more space.
Who should play it
The Exchange Variation suits Black players who meet 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 with the Philidor and want a solid set-up; the Hanham Variation (3...Nd7) keeps the pawn on e5 instead.
The numbers
On Lichess White's lead grows with rating up to 2200: 50.2% against 45.7% under 1400, 51.3% against 44.3% at 1400–1799 and 53.4% against 41.5% at 1800–2199. From 2200 up it is 51.3% against 41.7%. In about 4,100 master games White won 38.5%, Black 25.9%, and 35.7% were drawn.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation
4. Qxd4 scores best for White: 55.8%, with White winning 53.0% and Black 41.5% of 1.6M games. The most played answer, 4. Nxd4, scores lowest: 54.7% in 9.3M games. Stockfish's first choice is 4. Nxd4.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White'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
The Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation has lost ground since 2016: 0.45% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.66%.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.66% | 235,307 |
| 2017 | 0.62% | 338,913 |
| 2018 | 0.55% | 429,586 |
| 2019 | 0.52% | 651,852 |
| 2020 | 0.48% | 1,409,949 |
| 2021 | 0.47% | 1,836,820 |
| 2022 | 0.46% | 1,740,796 |
| 2023 | 0.46% | 1,729,559 |
| 2024 | 0.46% | 1,645,104 |
| 2025 | 0.45% | 1,552,556 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.44% | 486,494 |
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 (4)
Transpositions
All 8 named lines that continue from here
- C41 Philidor Defense: Bird Gambit 4 moves
- C41 Philidor Defense: Boden Variation 4 moves
- C41 Exchange Variation 4 moves
- C41 Philidor Defense: Morphy Gambit 4 moves
- C41 Exchange Variation 4 moves
- C41 Philidor Defense: Larsen Variation 4 moves
- C41 Philidor Defense: Paulsen Attack 5 moves
- C41 Philidor Defense: Berger Variation 10 moves
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Philidor Defence, version of 29 October 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation (C41)”. Lichess data as of 4 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/philidor-defense-exchange-variation