Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation
C41 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
White scores 56.5% here across 1,313 club games — but the 14.4% who answer Qxd4 score 52.1%, 4 points worse.
What White actually plays here
Across 1,313 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, White scores 56.5% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | White scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nxd4 | 1,010 | 76.9% | 56.2% | holds up |
| Qxd4 | 189 | 14.4% | 52.1% | below the line |
| Bc4 | 97 | 7.4% | 63.9% | holds up |
"Below the line" means the reply scores at least three points worse than the position does overall. Replies played fewer than 25 times are left out: the sample is too small to read.
Is this costing you anything?
A table of averages cannot tell you whether you go wrong here — only your own games can. Opening Leak Lab reads your Chess.com or Lichess archive, finds the decisions you repeat, and checks each one against this book and a bundled Stockfish.
Related openings
- Philidor Defense C41