Philidor Defense
A compact, solid defense with ...d6 and ...e5. The Philidor is easy to learn and gives Black a sturdy, resilient setup against 1.e4.
Let's begin.
Press Learn to start, then play the moves yourself.
Play pawn to e5.
Variations in this course
Every line runs to a middlegame position with coach commentary at each fork. Playing Black, you'll meet:
- 1
Hanham (...Nbd7)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nd7
Take it with you
Export this repertoire as a standard PGN — with the coach's notes as comments — to study it in Lichess, ChessBase, or any board you like. Sidelines are saved as PGN variations.
Related courses
More from the Open Games (1.e4 e5).
Ruy Lopez
A practical, aggressive repertoire for White built around fast development and pressure on e5. Easy to learn, hard to meet.
Vienna Gambit
Win a tempo, sac a pawn to open lines, and go straight after the king. Principled, coach-approved aggression.
Fried Liver Attack
Sacrifice the knight, drag the king into the open, and hunt it down. Pure attacking chess.
Petrov Defense
The Petrov (Russian Defense) is Black's soundest, most symmetrical answer to 1.e4 — a favorite of elite players seeking rock-solid equality.