--- title: "Philidor Defense win rate" url: "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/philidor-defense.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/philidor-defense" last_updated: "2026-11-07" type: "reference" summary: "White scored 52.1% in 43,229 Philidor Defense games on Lichess, 1 September 2026. Results by rating band, time control and the most played lines." related: ["https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/under-1200.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/1200-1599.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/1600-1999.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/2000-plus.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary.md"] --- # Philidor Defense win rate > **For AI agents:** the complete index of GeorgeLiChess pages is [llms.txt](https://georgelichess.com/llms.txt). Every page is also served as markdown at its URL plus .md. White scored 52.1% in 43,229 Philidor Defense games on Lichess, 1 September 2026. Results by rating band, time control and the most played lines. White scored 52.1% (margin 0.5 points) in 43,229 rated games of the Philidor Defense, ECO C41, played between players within 100 rating points on 1 September 2026. It ranked number 9 of 117 openings by popularity and made up 2.7% of all games. ## How often does White win in the Philidor Defense? White won 49.9% of the 43,229 games, 4.4% were drawn and Black won 45.7%. White's score of 52.1% is no clear difference from White's score across all openings (51.9%): the gap of 0.3 points is inside the margin of 0.5 points. **Results of 43,229 Philidor Defense games, 1 September 2026.** | Result | Games | Share | | --- | --- | --- | | White wins | 21,588 | 49.9% | | Draws | 1,890 | 4.4% | | Black wins | 19,751 | 45.7% | ## Does the Philidor Defense score differently at different ratings? White's score is highest at under 1200 (53.2%) and lowest at 1600 to 1999 (51.7%). That spread of 1.5 points is inside the two margins added together, so the data show no clear difference between the bands. Players rated 1200 to 1599 choose the Philidor Defense most often relative to their other openings, in 3.4 percent of their games. **White's score in the Philidor Defense by the lower rating of the two players, 1 September 2026.** | Rating band | Games | Share of the band | White score | Margin (points) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | under 1200 | 8,563 | 3.1% | 53.2% | 1.0 | | 1200 to 1599 | 19,544 | 3.4% | 51.9% | 0.7 | | 1600 to 1999 | 13,588 | 2.2% | 51.7% | 0.8 | | 2000 and above | 1,534 | 1.0% | 52.5% | 2.4 | ## How does the Philidor Defense do in blitz, rapid and classical? The time control changes who tends to win, because the clock matters more in faster games. Rows with fewer than 1,500 games are left out. **White's score in the Philidor Defense by time control, 1 September 2026.** | Time control | Games | White score | Margin (points) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Blitz | 29,814 | 51.8% | 0.6 | | Rapid | 13,022 | 52.8% | 0.8 | ## What are the most played lines of the Philidor Defense? The most played named line is the Exchange Variation, with 5,947 games and a White score of 53.7%. The table lists the ten most played lines that reached 300 games; a line below that is counted in the last row. **Named lines of the Philidor Defense, most played first, 1 September 2026.** | Line | Games | White score | Margin (points) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Exchange Variation | 5,947 | 53.7% | 1.2 | | Hanham Variation | 734 | 49.9% | 3.5 | | Morphy Gambit | 647 | 53.0% | 3.8 | | Lion Variation | 645 | 49.1% | 3.7 | | Nimzowitsch Variation | 582 | 56.4% | 3.9 | | Lopez Countergambit | 451 | 48.6% | 4.5 | | Steinitz Variation | 433 | 48.0% | 4.6 | | Bird Gambit | 315 | 54.9% | 5.4 | | Main line and less played lines | 33,475 | 51.9% | 0.5 | ## How were these opening statistics measured? Rated Blitz, Rapid and Classical games on 1 September 2026 between players within 100 rating points, banded by the lower rating. A score is wins plus half the draws, with a 95 percent margin. The hub page explains the method in full. ## Frequently asked questions **What is the win rate of the Philidor Defense?** White won 49.9%, drew 4.4% and lost 45.7% of 43,229 games, a White score of 52.1% with a margin of 0.5 points. These are games on Lichess on 1 September 2026. **Is the Philidor Defense good for White?** At these ratings White's score was no clear difference from White's score across all openings (51.9%): the gap of 0.3 points is inside the margin of 0.5 points. A difference of a point or two is small, and the side that picks an opening also picks which games reach it, so the number describes what happened at these ratings and is not a ruling on the opening. **What is the most popular line of the Philidor Defense?** The Exchange Variation was the most played named line, with 5,947 games, which is 13.8% of the Philidor Defense games. ## Sources - [Lichess open database, standard rated games (CC0), file for September 2026](https://database.lichess.org/), read 2026-10-22 ## Related - [English Opening win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/english-opening.md) - [Queen's Gambit Declined win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/queens-gambit-declined.md) - [King's Pawn Game win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/kings-pawn-game.md) - [Scotch Game win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/scotch-game.md) - [Italian Game win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/italian-game.md) - [Bishop's Opening win rate and statistics](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/bishops-opening.md) - [Chess opening statistics for players rated under 1200](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/under-1200.md) - [Chess opening statistics for players rated 1200 to 1599](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/1200-1599.md) - [Chess opening statistics for players rated 1600 to 1999](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/1600-1999.md) - [Chess opening statistics for players rated 2000 and above](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/2000-plus.md) - [Most popular chess openings and win rates](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics.md) - [Chess terms glossary](https://georgelichess.com/glossary.md) - [Book your first lesson](https://georgelichess.com/book/first-lesson.md) Last updated 2026-10-22. ## Related - [Most popular chess openings and win rates](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics.md) - [Chess openings by rating: under 1200](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/under-1200.md) - [Chess openings by rating: 1200 to 1599](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/1200-1599.md) - [Chess openings by rating: 1600 to 1999](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/1600-1999.md) - [Chess openings by rating: 2000 and above](https://georgelichess.com/chess-opening-statistics/2000-plus.md) - [Chess terms glossary: plain definitions](https://georgelichess.com/glossary.md)