Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...d6/3. d4/3...exd4/4. Nxd4

Philidor Defence
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
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/3p4/8/3NP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R b
Moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4

Philidor Defence

White recovers the pawn and has threatened much of Black's space with the Knight. Black can try to force the White Knight away with 4...Nc6, which White can defend by moving pieces in to defend his Knight, or 4...c5, which White would need to counter by moving his Knight or creating a sufficient threat elsewhere to save it.

Theory table

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation..

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4.Nxd4

	4	5	6	7	8
	Nxd4 Nf6	Nc3 Be7	Bf4 O-O	Be2 Nc6	O-O Re8	=
	... Nc6	=
	... c5	=