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| Moves | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ECO | C41 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Named after | François-André Danican Philidor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | King's Knight Opening | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Synonym | Philidor's Defence | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ThePhilidor Defence (orPhilidor's Defence) is achess opening characterised by the moves:
The opening is named after the famous 18th-century playerFrançois-André Danican Philidor, who advocated it as an alternative to the common 2...Nc6. His original idea was to challenge White'scentre by the pawn thrust ...f7–f5.
Today, the Philidor is known as asolid but passive choice for Black, and is seldom seen in top-level play except as an alternative to the heavily analysed openings that can ensue after the normal 2...Nc6. It is considered a good opening for amateur players who seek a defensive strategy that is simpler and easier to understand than the complex positions that result from an opening such as theFrench Defence.
TheEncyclopaedia of Chess Openings code for Philidor Defence is C41.
In his 1561 book,Ruy Lopez, seeking to debunkPedro Damiano, advocated 2...d6 as superior to 2...Nc6, on the grounds that 2...Nc6 allows the strong move 3.Bb5, now known as theRuy Lopez or Spanish Opening. Philidor evidently concurred with this assessment, though he also considered 2.Nf3 inferior to 2.Bc4. Philidor advocated the risky continuation 3.d4 f5!? The Philidor Defence subsequently became a popular opening, though 2...Nc6 remained the most common reply.
The Philidor occurred in one of the most famous games ever played,"The Opera Game" played in 1858 between the Americanchess masterPaul Morphy and two strong amateurs, the German nobleDuke Karl of Brunswick and the French aristocrat Count Isouard. The game continued 3.d4 Bg4, a deviation from modern standard lines. The Philidor Defence declined in popularity aspositional play became more developed, and it had almost completely vanished from top-tier chess byWorld War I.
As of 2017[update], there are no top players who employ the Philidor with regularity, althoughÉtienne Bacrot andLiviu-Dieter Nisipeanu have occasionally experimented with it in classical play. Its popularity in master play has increased slightly, however, over the last 20 years. It has also become fairly popular inrapid,blitz, andbullet chess.[1]
With 3.d4, White immediately challenges Black in thecentre. Black has several options.
The most common Black response is 3...exd4 which relieves the centraltension, although it gives up the centre. After 4.Nxd4 Nf6 (4...d5 5.exd5, thePaulsen Attack,[2] continues 5...Qxd5 6.Qe2+ Be7 7.Nb5 Na6 8.N1c3+/= Paulsen[3]) 5.Nc3, Black normally continues ...Be7 and ...0-0 (theAntoshin Variation) and achieves a strong defensive position. A sample line is: 5...Be7 6.Bc4 0-0 7.0-0 c6, and the position is almostequal.
In this line Black can alsofianchetto his bishop to g7, although this is uncommon.Bent Larsen tried this in a few games, including adraw againstMikhail Tal in 1969.[4]
Instead of 4.Nxd4, White can play 4.Qxd4, as Paul Morphy favoured, intending 4...Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Bxc6 Bxc6 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.Bg5 followed by 0-0-0. This line was played in many 19th-century games.
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 |              | 8 | |||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
The other main option for Black is to maintain the central tension and adopt a setup with ...Nd7, ...Be7, and ...c6. This plan is named the Hanham Variation (after theAmerican chess masterJames Moore Hanham) and was favoured byAron Nimzowitsch. A common line is: 3...Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.0-0 (6.Ng5 is an interesting alternative: after 6...0-0 7.Bxf7+ Rxf7 8.Ne6 Qe8 9.Nxc7 Qd8 10.Nxa8, White is upmaterial, but Black can develop a stronginitiative after, for example, 10...b5 11.Nxb5 Qa5+) 6...0-0 7.a4 (to prevent ...b5) c6 (see diagram).
Grandmaster (GM)Larry Kaufman notes that the Hanham Variation aims to maintain Black's pawn on e5, analogously to closed lines of theRuy Lopez, and opines that "it would be quite popular and on a par with the major defences to 1.e4, except for the annoying detail that Black can't actually reach the Hanham position by force."[5]
As an alternative to 4.Nc3 in response to Black's 3...Nf6, according to both Kaufman and GMChristian Bauer, White retains some advantage with: 4.dxe5! Nxe4 5.Qd5! (theRellstab Variation;[6] 5.Nbd2 is theSokolsky Variation[7]) 5...Nc5 6.Bg5 Be7 7.exd6 Qxd6 8.Nc3.[8][9]
Black sometimes tries 3...Nd7 intending 4.Nc3 Ngf6, reaching the Hanham Variation. But then 4.Bc4! is awkward for Black to meet, since 4...Ngf6 loses to 5.dxe5 Nxe5 (5...dxe5?? 6.Ng5! wins) 6.Nxe5 dxe5 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qxd8 Bb4+ 9.Qd2 Bxd2+ 10.Nxd2 winning a pawn, and 4...Be7 loses a pawn to 5.dxe5 Nxe5 (5...dxe5?? 6.Qd5! wins) 6.Nxe5 dxe5 7.Qh5![8][10] So 4...c6 is best for Black, but leaves White with the advantage of thebishop pair after 5.0-0 Be7 6.dxe5 dxe5 (6...Nxe5 loses a pawn to 7.Nxe5 dxe5 8.Qh5) 7.Ng5! Bxg5 8.Qh5! Qe7 and now 9.Bxg5 or 9.Qxg5.[11]
In recent years, Black has experimented with othermove orders in an attempt to reach the Hanham Variation while avoiding 3...Nf6 4.dxe5! and 3...Nd7 4.Bc4!
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 | | 8 | |||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
A more aggressive approach for Black after 3.d4 is 3...f5!? (diagram), Philidor's original intention and recommendation. In the 19th century, 3...f5 was also played byPaul Morphy. The move can lead to moreopen positions than the other lines, but is often considered dubious.[16][17] Others maintain that 3...f5 is a valid idea. GMTony Kosten considers the move respectable in his monograph on the opening.[18] The move was also played byDavid Bronstein and byTeimour Radjabov.
After 3...f5 White has several ways to proceed:
Inferior is 3...Bg4?!, in light of 4.dxe5 Bxf3 (Black cannot recapture since 4...dxe5? 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 6.Nxe5 wins a clean pawn; or, Black can gambit a pawn with 4...Nd7, theAlbin Variation[34]) 5.Qxf3 (or White can obtain an endgame advantage with 5.gxf3 dxe5 6.Qxd8+ Kxd8 7.f4+/−Maróczy[35]) 5...dxe5 6.Bc4 giving White the advantage of thebishop pair in an open position as well as a largedevelopment advantage. Black cannot block the attack on the f7-pawn with the "natural" 6...Nf6? because White wins a pawn with 7.Qb3 (played in the famous "Opera Game", where Morphy as White refrained from taking the b7-pawn and retained a stronginitiative after 7...Qe7 8.Nc3). Black does better with 6...Qf6 7.Qb3 Bc5 8.0-0 Bb6 9.a4 a5 10.Nc3 Ne7 11.Be3 Nd7 12.Rad1+/−, or 6...Qd7!? (Maróczy).[35]
An alternative approach for White is 3.Bc4, delaying d2–d4, or forgoing it entirely, playing d2–d3 instead. The move 3.Bc4 is also White's route to a possibleLégal Trap. Some continuations:
Against the alternative 3.c3, Black can try 3...f5 (3...Nc6 4.d4 Nf6 transposes to thePonziani Opening) 4.exf5 Bxf5 5.Qb3 Nf6 6.Ng5 d5 7.Qxb7 Nbd7 8.Qc6 Bd6 withcompensation andinitiative.[38]
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