Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation
The Hanham Variation is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nd7, a solid line of the Philidor Defense. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
1,498,183 games: White 47.6% / Draw 4.6% / Black 47.8%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 678,614679K | ||
| 325,392325K | ||
| 174,971175K | ||
| 147,205147K | ||
| 54,63255K | ||
| 38,80539K | ||
| 24,23924K | ||
| 17,20117K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 27, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.71 White is better
Best play: 4. c4 Ngf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be2 Bg7 7. Be3 O-O 8. O-O exd4
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: Black scores 49% under 1400, 47% at 2200 and up and 34% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 374K | |
| 1400–1799 | 878K | |
| 1800–2199 | 866K | |
| 2200 and up | 123K | |
| Masters, over the board | 910 |
Master games
- Ni, H. – Zhang, P.
- Paravyan, D. – Oparin, G.
- Praggnanandhaa, R. – Wei Yi
- Rublevsky, S. – Khismatullin, D.
- Vachier Lagrave, M. – Cossin, S.
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 27, 2026
Description
The Hanham Variation is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nd7, a solid line of the Philidor Defense. Instead of giving up the centre with ...exd4, Black keeps the pawn on e5 and sets up with ...Nd7, ...Be7 and ...c6. It is named after the American master James Moore Hanham, who favoured 3...Nd7.
The idea
Black's aim is a solid defence of e5. Larry Kaufman compares the Hanham to the closed lines of the Ruy Lopez, where Black also holds the e5-pawn, and says it would be quite popular and on a par with the major defences to 1.e4, "except for the annoying detail that Black can't actually reach the Hanham position by force".
Main lines
- 4.Bc4 is awkward for Black. 4...Ngf6 loses a pawn to 5.dxe5 Nxe5 6.Nxe5 dxe5 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qxd8, and 4...Be7, a common mistake, loses a pawn to 5.dxe5 Nxe5 6.Nxe5 dxe5 7.Qh5. The best answer is 4...c6, but after 5.O-O Be7 6.dxe5 dxe5 7.Ng5 Bxg5 8.Qh5 White gets the bishop pair.
- 4.Nc3 Ngf6 leads to the main set-up. Tony Kosten called the order 3...Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 the "improved" Hanham, because it avoids 4.Bc4. The main line continues 5.Bc4 Be7 6.O-O O-O, usually followed by Re1, c6 and a4. Here 6.Ng5 is considered inferior: after 6...O-O 7.Bxf7+ Rxf7 8.Ne6 Qe8 9.Nxc7 Qd8 10.Nxa8 b5 Black gets a strong initiative.
Aron Nimzowitsch favoured 3...Nf6 to avoid 3...Nd7 4.Bc4, but then White can choose 4.dxe5. More recently Black has also tried to reach the Hanham through 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3.
The numbers
On Lichess the two sides are almost level: Black wins 47.8% of the 1.5 million games and White 47.6%. Below 1800 White is slightly ahead, and between 1800 and 2199 Black is, 48.3% against 47.1%. From 2200 up White wins 50.3% against 43.5%. In 910 master games over the board White won 52.7%, Black 20.4%, and 26.8% were drawn.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation
4. Bc4 scores best for White: 54.1%, with White winning 51.9% and Black 43.8% of 325K games. The most played, 4. dxe5, scores 48.7% in 679K games, and 4. d5 scores lowest: 43.6%. Stockfish's first choice is 4. c4.
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: Hanham Variation has stayed between 0.053% and 0.063% of Lichess games a year since 2016 (0.061% in 2025).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.06% | 21,497 |
| 2017 | 0.063% | 34,470 |
| 2018 | 0.063% | 49,669 |
| 2019 | 0.059% | 73,680 |
| 2020 | 0.057% | 166,949 |
| 2021 | 0.053% | 207,943 |
| 2022 | 0.056% | 209,883 |
| 2023 | 0.058% | 219,601 |
| 2024 | 0.057% | 204,023 |
| 2025 | 0.061% | 212,058 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.064% | 69,881 |
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 (6)
All 7 named lines that continue from here
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: Hanham Variation (C41)”. Lichess data as of 27 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/philidor-defense-hanham-variation