Philidor: Win Rate by Lichess Rating

Philidor Defense · 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 · CC0 name list

At 1500–1799 (Lichess rating), Black scored 47.8% in 37,716 Philidor Defense games (±0.5; games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026).

Black won 45.6% of them, White won 50.0%, and 4.3% were drawn.

Black scores below 50% at this level (outside the margin)

In games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026, Black scored 47.8% (±0.5) with the Philidor Defense in sampled Lichess games at the 1500–1799 Lichess rating level (37,716 games). Observed results, not causation.

Data period: games from 1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026 (sample of the Lichess open database) · Page updated: 9 Oct 2026

3.0%

of rated games at Lichess rating 1200–1499 reached the Philidor Defense · 35,442 of 1,195,994 games, Oct 2025–Sep 2026 sample

At 2100+: 0.4%. At 1200–1499: 3.0%. 7.1× as common at 1200–1499 as at 2100+.

Position after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6. 115,797 games in this sample reached it — 5,450 of them by a different move order.

At a glance

In this sample, White's score ranged from 52.0% (2100+) to 53.4% (1800–2099).
That spread is within the approximate margin of error, so this sample shows no clear difference between levels.
It appeared most often in the 1200–1499 group (3.0% of that group's games).
Draws were most common in the 2100+ group (5.4%).

These are observed results for the selected games (rated, players within 200 rating points of each other). They describe what happened — they do not prove the opening caused the result.

Results by Lichess rating level

Each row shows how the Philidor Defense games at one rating level ended: White wins, draws and Black wins, across all time controls combined. Rating level is the average Lichess rating of both players.

White won drawn Black won. Philidor Defense — results by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined (minimum 300 games per row).

Under 120022,732 games

White wins 50.8% · draws 4.0% · Black wins 45.2% · White's score 52.8% ±0.6 · how common 2.8%
1200–149935,442 gamesIn the headline

White wins 50.3% · draws 3.9% · Black wins 45.9% · White's score 52.2% ±0.5 · how common 3.0%
1500–179937,716 games

White wins 50.0% · draws 4.3% · Black wins 45.6% · White's score 52.2% ±0.5 · how common 2.4%
1800–209917,007 games

White wins 51.1% · draws 4.6% · Black wins 44.3% · White's score 53.4% ±0.7 · how common 1.3%
2100+2,900 gamesCompared with

White wins 49.2% · draws 5.4% · Black wins 45.3% · White's score 52.0% ±1.8 · how common 0.4%

"White's score" = wins + half of draws. "±" is an approximate 95% margin based only on the number of games. It does not cover sampling bias or related games (the same players appear many times), so real uncertainty is larger. "How common" = share of all sampled games at that level that reached this position. Ratings are Lichess ratings; they are not interchangeable with Chess.com or FIDE ratings.

Compare it with another choice from the same position, at the Lichess level and time control you choose: Compare in Find Your Opening (the comparison needs JavaScript)

Results by time control

Each row shows how the Philidor Defense games ended in one Lichess time control, across all rating levels combined.

Philidor Defense — results by time control, all rating levels combined (minimum 300 games per row)
Time control	Games	White wins	Draws	Black wins	White's score
Bullet	25,395	49.9%	2.7%	47.4%	51.3%
Blitz	61,938	50.2%	4.5%	45.3%	52.5%
Rapid	27,476	51.0%	4.9%	44.1%	53.4%
Classical	988	56.2%	5.0%	38.9%	58.7%

This table and the rating rows are separate summaries: rating levels are not split by time control here, and time controls are not split by rating. Observed results only; approximate uncertainty applies as above.

Most played replies for White at each level

Top replies with at least 150 games. "Score" is White's score after that reply (wins + half of draws). These comparisons alone can't show that one reply is reliably better — the margins are approximate and stronger or weaker players may prefer different replies.

Replies to 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined
Rating level	Reply · share · games · score
Under 1200	3.Bc4 ·40.4% · 9,181 · 53.4% ±1.0 3.d4 ·23.6% · 5,357 · 53.6% ±1.3 3.Nc3 ·19.7% · 4,484 · 52.6% ±1.4
1200–1499	3.Bc4 ·43.9% · 15,541 · 51.8% ±0.8 3.d4 ·28.4% · 10,076 · 53.4% ±1.0 3.Nc3 ·13.0% · 4,603 · 52.2% ±1.4
1500–1799	3.Bc4 ·42.5% · 16,038 · 52.4% ±0.8 3.d4 ·33.1% · 12,476 · 52.9% ±0.9 3.Nc3 ·10.0% · 3,775 · 50.6% ±1.6
1800–2099	3.d4 ·40.4% · 6,874 · 54.2% ±1.1 3.Bc4 ·40.4% · 6,867 · 53.0% ±1.2 3.Nc3 ·7.9% · 1,351 · 53.8% ±2.6
2100+	3.d4 ·50.9% · 1,476 · 51.4% ±2.5 3.Bc4 ·32.5% · 943 · 52.4% ±3.1 3.Nc3 ·9.7% · 282 · 53.2% ±5.7

Up next: related positions with a page

Earlier position: King's Knight Opening 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 (Italian Game: Two Knights Defense)
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 (Italian Game: Giuoco Piano)
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6 (Petrov's Defense: Stafford Gambit)

Other choices from the same position for Black: each one's own level and score, as on its page
Opening	Lichess rating level	Games	Black's score
vs King's Knight Opening: Normal Variation 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6	1500–1799	143,162	47.2% ±0.3
vs Petrov's Defense 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6	1500–1799	21,356	48.3% ±0.7

Each row is a separate page with its own games. A difference smaller than the two margins combined is no clear difference. Observed results, not causation.

Deeper positions with this name

The free opening list gives the name Philidor Defense to 3 deeper positions on this line as well. This page counts the first one; games in the 12-month sample that reached each deeper one:

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4: 52,439 games
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4: 38,172 games
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Be7: 7,807 games

Download these numbers: Philidor Defense (CSV), released under CC0. For move-by-move exploration with your own filters, see the free Lichess opening explorer. This independent page lists each rating level and each time control in its own row for comparison.