Caissa Codex
C41

Philidor Defense: Lion Variation, Bishop Sacrifice

Chess diagram: Philidor Defense: Lion Variation, Bishop Sacrifice after 6. Bxf7+

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

38,863 games: White 42.9% / Draw 3.8% / Black 53.4%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
38,70739K
156156

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 13, 2026

Engine evaluation

−2.01 Black is clearly better

Best play: 6... Kxf7 7. Ng5+ Kg8 8. Ne6 Qe8 9. Nxc7 Qg6 10. Qe2 Rb8 11. Be3

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

Overview

Philidor Defense: Lion Variation, Bishop Sacrifice (ECO C41, Open Games) is a variation of the Philidor Defense: Lion Variation, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. Bxf7+ (6 moves).

In 38,863 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 42.9%, Black 53.4% and 3.8% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 6…Kxf7, in 100% 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 5. Bc4 Be7 6. Bxf7+, the position after Philidor Defense: Lion Variation also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Philidor Defense: Lion Variation, Bishop Sacrifice (C41)”. Lichess data as of 13 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/philidor-defense-lion-variation-bishop-sacrifice

https://chesscodex.org/openings/philidor-defense-lion-variation-bishop-sacrifice