C42 · Open · a defense for Black
Petrov's Defense: French Attack
9/9
1.e4e52.Nf3Nf63.Nxe5d64.Nf3Nxe45.d3
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Petrov's Defense: French Attack405k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
93%376k51%
6.2%25k47%
0.5%1.9k16%
0.3%1.1k28%
0.1%58038%
0%17813%
0%14613%
0%8512%
0%7516%
0%5821%
Famous games in this line804 master games
Carlsen, M. (2838) – Caruana, F. (2817)Carlsen, M. (2853) – Abdusattorov, Nodirbek (2731)Anand, V. (2760) – Caruana, F. (2822)Vachier Lagrave, Maxime (2778) – Nepomniachtchi, Ian (2784)So, W. (2778) – Aronian, L. (2782)Nakamura, Hi (2745) – Caruana, F. (2812)Carlsen, M. (2840) – Bu Xiangzhi (2705)Grischuk, Alexander (2785) – Dominguez Perez, Leinier (2757)Heroes of this opening Caruana, F. · Nepomniachtchi, Ian · Carlsen, M.
- Family
- Petrov's Defense
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C42
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d3
SolidAggressiveClassical
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From the archives
Named for the 19th-century Russian master Alexander Petrov, the Petrov spent a century labeled 'drawish' — then Fabiano Caruana brought it to the 2018 World Championship, where it answered both of Magnus Carlsen's 1.e4 games and drew both. All twelve classical games were drawn and the title went to a rapid tiebreak. Symmetry, it turns out, is a weapon too.
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