C43 · Open · a defense for Black
Petrov's Defense: Modern Attack, Symmetrical Variation
6/6
1.e4e52.Nf3Nf63.d4d5
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Petrov's Defense: Modern Attack, Symmetrical Variation98k games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
63%62k54%
17%17k57%
16%16k56%
1.6%1.6k54%
1.1%1.1k52%
0.3%30438%
0.3%24942%
0.2%21537%
0.2%17651%
0.1%12048%
Famous games in this line22 master games
Tari, A. (2650) – Mekhitarian, K. (2569)Safarli, E. (2600) – Jobava, Ba (2600)Smirin, Ilia (2510) – Akopian, Vladimir (2460)Sanal, V. (2567) – Yavuz, Efe Metehan (2329)Matyukhin, Sergey Konstantinov (2495) – Wojtyra, Slawomir (2339)Szieberth, Adam (2400) – Kallio, Heikki (2431)Kozlov, Aleksandr Anatoliev (2373) – Pecka, Josef (2430)Schweer, Carsten (2433) – Wojtyra, Slawomir (2339)Heroes of this opening Mekhitarian, K. · Sanal, V. · Kozlov, Aleksandr Anatoliev · Wojtyra, Slawomir
- Family
- Petrov's Defense
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C43
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 d5
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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