Philidor Defense
Chess opening · ECO C41 · 4 half-moves
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6
The Philidor Defense is reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6. It is White's move in the position shown.
It branches from the King's Knight Opening with 2… d6.
How often it is played
The Philidor Defense and its variations appeared in 2.1% of games — 62,948 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 20 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 50%, 4.0% were drawn and Black won 46%. These are games between players of every strength and time control, so they say how the opening does in practice rather than how sound it is.
What the engine thinks
Stockfish, at depth 18, evaluates the position at +0.62 — a clear edge for White. Positive numbers favour White; see reading the evaluation bar.
Similar openings
The most-played alternatives — what else could have been chosen around the move where this opening begins.
| Opening | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| King's Knight Opening: Normal Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 | 10% |
| Petrov's Defense | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 | 1.3% |
| King's Pawn Game: Busch-Gass Gambit | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Bc5 | 0.39% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 | 0.34% |
| Philidor Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 | 0.09% |
| Philidor Defense: Hanham Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7 | 0.05% |
| Philidor Defense: Lopez Countergambit | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 f5 | 0.02% |
| Philidor Defense: Steinitz Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. c3 | 0.02% |
| Philidor Defense: Philidor Countergambit | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 f5 | 0.02% |
| Philidor Defense: Philidor Gambit | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bd7 | 0.00% |
| Philidor Defense: Albin-Blackburne Gambit | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. dxe5 Nd7 | 0.00% |
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