Caissa Codex
C41

Philidor Defense: Paulsen Attack

Chess diagram: Philidor Defense: Paulsen Attack after 5. exd5

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

10,150 games: White 61.5% / Draw 4.3% / Black 34.2%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
9,1609,160
473473
141141
7979
7070
5454
4949
3434

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026

Engine evaluation

+1.50 White is clearly better

Best play: 5... Qxd5 6. Qe2+ Be6 7. Nb5 Qd7 8. Bf4 Na6 9. N1c3 Nf6 10. Rd1

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

Overview

Philidor Defense: Paulsen Attack (ECO C41, Open Games) is a variation of the Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 d5 5. exd5 (5 moves).

In 10,150 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 61.5%, Black 34.2% and 4.3% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 5…Qxd5, in 90% 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…d5 5. exd5, the position after Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Philidor Defense: Paulsen Attack (C41)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/philidor-defense-paulsen-attack

https://chesscodex.org/openings/philidor-defense-paulsen-attack