Philidor Defense | Lesson 28


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This chess opening lesson is designed for beginners to learn Philidor Defense. The lesson holds 4 chess videos (Video 1: Philidor Defense - General Information | Video 2: Philidor Defense - How to Play | Video 3: Philidor Defense - Trap 1 | Video 4: Philidor Defense - Trap 2)...

Video 1 is located on this page; Videos 2-3-4 on separated pages. Find the links to Videos 2-3-4 on this page below... The lesson is also the textual part to read and the .PGN file to download and learn the real chess games, which were played on Philidor Defense in 2009 by chess masters.

By composition, this chess opening lesson is divided into 3 parts:
I. Philidor Defense: Data and Variations
II. Philidor Defense Videos: See a Picture, How to Play, and 2 Traps
III. Philidor Defense PGN File: Download and Learn Real Games

Latest Chess Opening Information and New Links


I. Philidor Defense: Data and Variations



Opening Name: Philidor Defense
Type: Open Game opening (begins with 1.e4 e5)
Move Order: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6
ECO Code: C41

Philidor Defense

Philidor Defense: Description

This chess opening is named after the famous 18th century player Francois-Andre Philidor. The main 2 features of Philidor Defense are the following: 1. Black creates strong defense, but his chess pieces are limited in movement. 2. If you want to play Philidor Defense for Black, be sure to learn 2 traps.

The best White moves to answer Philidor Defense are 3.d4 (for 60-70%) or 3.Bc4 (for 10-15%). As an answer for the White move 3.d4, it is not recommended for Black to play 3... Bg4? or 3... f5?!. At the chess master level, it is popular to use the alternative move order for Philidor Defense.


II. Philidor Defense Videos: See a Picture, How to Play, and 2 Traps



Now, you are recommended to see Video 1: Philidor Defense - General Information. To see and learn the Philidor Defense chess opening in a visible way, just click the Play button below:




• If the opening video hasn't shown up, please wait a little.
• If the video stops, drag a little right the player's handle.

See also Video 2: Philidor Defense - How to Play clicking the next link:

See Video 2: Philidor Defense - How to Play
Note: You can find Video 2 at the bottom of the page open.

See also Video 3: Philidor Defense - Trap 1 by clicking the next link:

See Video 3: Philidor Defense - Trap 1
Note: You can find Video 3 at the bottom of the page open.

See also Video 4: Philidor Defense - Trap 2 by clicking the next link:

See Video 4: Philidor Defense - Trap 2
Note: You can find Video 4 at the bottom of the page open.


III. Philidor Defense PGN File: Download and Learn Real Games



Find below the Philidor-Defense.pgn file to download and see how this opening works in real games at the chess master level. To read the file, you will need a PGN Viewer Program. See Lesson 16, which explains you how to download a decent freeware PGN Viewer Program. Before downloading the file, please read in which way it was compiled and what you will see within it.

The Philidor-Defense.pgn file was created in the following way:

• The file includes main variations and displays how to correctly play 3 variations.
• In addition, the file includes 24 chess games played on Philidor Defense in the year 2009.
• The chess games were selected randomly, all FIDE players rated 2027-2696.

• All the names of the chess players were removed, their ELO ratings kept intact.
• The game results and tournament names were removed as well.
• The chess games are shown from the game beginning to the middle game stage only.

• At this point, the positions were analyzed by a computer program.
• You will see the result of the program's analysis, like this...
• "If White finds a best line ..., Black will be slightly better at 0.09 pawns."

• The computer program's analysis will help you:
• To analyze who was better at playing Philidor Defense.
• To understand how to correctly continue the middle game...

To see how Philidor Defense works at the chess master level, click the following link:

Download the Philidor-Defense.pgn File (15 KB)

Note 1. The above file is to be downloaded from Google Drive. First click the above link to open, then click the download icon to download.
Note 2. To read the above PGN File and see the chess games inside it, you will need a PGN Viewer software. See Lesson 16, which explains how to download a decent freeware PGN Viewer.

Chess Openings for Beginners - See All Lessons


The next chess opening to study on this website is the Petroff Defense (Lesson 29). And on this page you've learned the Philidor Defense chess opening, ECO C41, which starts with the moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6... The Philidor Defense is a representative of open game chess openings because it starts with 1.e4 e5.