1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nxe4
The Petrov Defense (also called the Russian Game) is Black’s symmetrical answer to 1. e4, beginning 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6. Instead of defending the e5-pawn with 2... Nc6 and heading into the Ruy Lopez or Italian Game, Black ignores the threat and counterattacks e4 with the knight. After the critical 3. Nxe5, this course plays the immediate recapture 3... Nxe4 — sound only because of the precise resource 4. Qe2 Qe7! — steering the game into forcing lines that Black knows far better than White.
Every line starts 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nxe4. A word of honesty about that last move: classical theory recommends 3... d6 first, kicking the knight back before recapturing on e4, because the immediate 3... Nxe4 walks into 4. Qe2. That is exactly the point of this repertoire. After 4. Qe2 you must know 4... Qe7! — the only good move — when 5. Qxe4 d6 freezes White’s e5-knight on the e-file (any knight move loses White’s queen to ... Qxe4), and Black regains the piece by force. Play 4... Nf6?? instead and 5. Nc6+ wins your queen with a discovered check. The course drills the entire 4. Qe2 complex plus White’s other tries: 4. Bc4, 4. Qf3 and quiet retreats like 4. d3.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nxe4 4. Qe2 Qe7 5. Qxe4 d6
This is the move that justifies the whole repertoire. 4... Qe7 is the only good reply to 4. Qe2: it counterattacks the e5-knight, and after 5. Qxe4 d6 that knight is frozen — any retreat drops White’s queen to ... Qxe4 — so Black regains the piece by force. The famous trap becomes a position Black has rehearsed and White is improvising in.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nxe4 4. Qe2 Qe7 5. Qxe4 d6 6. d4 dxe5 7. dxe5 Nc6 8. Bf4 g5 9. Bg3 f5
White’s best: 6. d4 sells the trapped knight for Black’s d-pawn, leaving White a pawn up with the extra pawn sitting on e5. Black plays directly against it — 7... Nc6 attacks it at once, and after 8. Bf4 the signature lunge ... g5 and ... f5 gains space with tempo, hunts the g3-bishop with a coming ... f4, and opens lines toward White’s king while Black castles long. The course lines show this pawn coming back with interest.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nxe4 4. Qe2 Qe7 5. Qxe4 d6 6. d4 dxe5 7. Qxe5 Qxe5+ 8. dxe5 Nc6 9. Bf4 Bf5
White trades queens to bank the e5-pawn in an endgame. Black develops with concrete threats: ... Bf5 eyes c2, ... O-O-O lands a rook on the open d-file in a single move, and ... Nb4 raids the queenside while White’s king is still in the center. In the course lines Black regularly wins e5 back or invades first — this “drawish” endgame is real work for an unprepared White.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nxe4 4. Qe2 Nf6 5. Nc6+
This is the line you are training never to play — and the reason 3... Nxe4 has a “beginner mistake” reputation. Retreating with 4... Nf6?? allows 5. Nc6+: the knight move discovers check from the e2-queen down the open e-file while the knight simultaneously attacks Black’s queen on d8. Black must answer the check and loses the queen for a knight. The course makes 4... Qe7 automatic so this never happens to you.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nxe4 4. Bc4 d5 5. Bb3 Qg5
White ignores the knight and aims at f7, but 4... d5 blunts the bishop with tempo and 5... Qg5 forks the e5-knight and the g2-pawn. After 6. O-O Qxe5 7. d3, Black gives the knight back with 7... Nxf2 8. Rxf2 Bc5 and emerges a pawn up with a nasty pin on f2. After 6. Nf3 Qxg2 7. Rf1 Bg4 White’s kingside is wrecked and the king will never castle safely.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nxe4 4. d3 Nf6
Not every White player knows the critical 4. Qe2. Against a modest move like 4. d3 the knight simply retreats, material is level, and ... d6 next evicts the e5-knight, reaching a normal, comfortable Petrov middlegame. 4. Qf3 is met by 4... Ng5 hitting the queen, again followed by ... d6 and easy development. In both cases Black equalizes without drama.
If you face this Petrov move order as White, the critical test of 3... Nxe4 is 4. Qe2 — the move that wins the queen against the unprepared. But against a booked-up opponent you must know the counter-resource yourself: 4... Qe7! defuses the trap, and after 5. Qxe4 d6 the e5-knight cannot be saved for free. Take what the position actually offers: 6. d4 dxe5 7. dxe5 (or 7. Qxe5, trading queens) concedes the piece back but leaves you a pawn up with the e5-pawn and easier development. Do not get greedy — 6. Bb5+ c6 7. Bxc6+? backfires badly, since 7... Nxc6 leaves Black a piece up for just one pawn. In the resulting middlegames and endgames, develop quickly with Bf4 and Nc3, watch the c2-square against ... Bf5 and ... Nb4, decide early where your king belongs, and be willing to return the e5-pawn for activity rather than defend it into a bind. Avoid 4. Bc4?, when 4... d5 followed by ... Qg5 forks the e5-knight and g2 and leaves your king stuck in the center. If you would rather skip the discussion entirely, 3. d4 and 3. Nc3 sidestep this trap complex (after 3. d4 Black may still play 3... Nxe4, but the 4. Qe2 question never arises) — and against the classical 3... d6 move order, simply retreat with 4. Nf3 and play the position. Above all, treat the Petrov with respect: it punishes autopilot attacking moves more reliably than almost any 1. e4 e5 defense.
Meet 3... Nxe4 head-on with 4. Qe2, and after 4... Qe7 5. Qxe4 d6 6. d4 dxe5, choose between 7. dxe5 keeping queens on or 7. Qxe5 heading for the endgame — either way you hold the e5-pawn and freer development. Develop with Bf4 and Nc3, castle early on the wing that fits the pawn structure, and treat e5 as a bargaining chip: returning it for activity beats defending it passively.
Know the resource cold: 4. Qe2 is answered only by 4... Qe7, never 4... Nf6. After regaining the piece, play against the e5-pawn: ... Nc6 hits it immediately, ... Bf5 or ... Bg4 develops with threats, and ... O-O-O puts a rook on the d-file in one move. Against 8. Bf4, the ... g5, ... f5 and ... f4 lunge hunts the g3-bishop and rips open White’s position. In the queen-trade endgames, target c2 and the center with ... Nb4 and ... Rd8.
The opening is named after Alexander Petrov, the 19th-century Russian master who analyzed it deeply — which is also why it is widely known as the Russian Game. For most of its modern life it has carried a reputation as one of chess’s great equalizing weapons: Black answers 1. e4 symmetrically, trades down the center, and dares White to prove anything. That reputation peaked at the elite level when Fabiano Caruana used the Petrov extensively in his 2018 World Championship match, where it held up as a remarkably resilient drawing weapon. The 3... Nxe4 move order this course teaches sits on the other end of the spectrum: dismissed as a beginner mistake because of the 4. Qe2 trap, it is in fact fully playable — but only with the precise 4... Qe7 resource the course drills until it is reflex.
Let's play the Petrov defense.
Let's learn the Petrov Defense! Petrov? Petroff? However you say it, this opening will take white completely by surprise. They'll be on your turf, and there's barely any moves to memorize. We start by playing pawn to e5.
Let's continue with the Petrov defense.
Instead of defending our pawn, we'll attack white's with knight to f6. This is the Petrov defense.
Most chess courses will tell you NOT to copy white and take their e4 pawn because it's dangerous. Well, most chess courses are BORING. Chess is a game. Games are fun. Knight takes pawn on e4.
What I love about this opening is we can just... copy our opponent! Queen to e7, SACRIFICING our knight.
OK we can't copy our opponent anymore, but we CAN win our knight back: pawn to d6. If white tries to move their knight, we win their queen.
Pawn to c6 blocks the check and makes white have to retreat their bishop
White's most common move is LITERALLY just a blunder of a piece. I can't even explain it. Just knight takes bishop on c6 and we have a free piece.
We really can't go wrong here - but the easiest move is just pawn takes knight.
I can't believe white blundered a piece like that. What were they thinking??
Let's take our knight back with the pawn.
OK, it looks like we're just a pawn down — right? But in practice, that extra pawn is incredibly hard for White to hang onto. Most players over-focus on defending it and end up in a worse position because of it. Knight to c6 adding an attacker.
White has two attackers on our knight. We need two defenders. Bishop to d7.
We should probably copy white and castle too.
Let's try and trap that bishop in the corner - pawn to g5.
White plays that move 85% of the time and it literally just loses them their bishop. Now we have Pawn to f5, hitting the queen. Once she moves, the bishop is trapped on the next move.
Pawn to f4 to finally lock that bishop in jail :)
That bishop is as good as ours!
White defended their pawn. Harmless, right? WRONG! They just LOST the game because of this very tricky line: first, pawn to g5 hitting the bishop.
That bishop looks like it can get trapped. Let's trap it! Pawn to f5 hitting the queen, and once the queen moves, we can trap the bishop with one more pawn push. Oh yeah - and white can't take en-passant because then we win their queen!
The queen moved and now we can trap that bishop! Pawn to f4.
Meh - this doesn't really scare me: queen to f7 blocking the check.
White wins a pawn? We win a bishop. Pawn takes bishop on g3.
Being a piece up never hurt anyone!
White took back with the queen this time - which means we want to send this game to an endgame where we can create a lot of problems for white. Queen takes queen on e5.
First things first, let's get our pawn back: knight to c6.
White really wants to keep their e5 pawn - fine! Let's switch our focus to their c2 pawn with bishop to f5.
Looks like white defended their c2 pawn right? WRONG! We have a winning sequence now: first, bishop takes bishop on d3.
Now knight to b4, and we're threatening two things: capturing the d3 pawn, and forking the king and rook on c2.
White was so desperate to protect both squares they moved their king into the middle of the board - big mistake. Now we simply castle queenside, and in one easy move our king has become safe and their king is under fire from our rook!
Let's take the d3 pawn with our knight. Now we're attacking the undefended bishop on f4 and the undefended pawn on b2. Oh yeah - and we're threatening a discovered check too!
Let's throw in bishop to c5 check - just bringing another piece to the party.
We're spoiled for options here. Let's take f2 with our bishop.
The eval bar gives us +3 points here. We're crushing.
White has a serious threat on f7 - let's block out the bishop with pawn to d5.
With white's light-squared bishop gone, we have this incredible fork: queen to g5. We're attacking the g2 pawn and white's e5 knight, and white can't save them both.
White's most common move here just... wins us a knight. Queen takes knight on e5.
Here's the only tricky part: if we just move our knight away, white's rook will come to e1 and pin our queen to our king. That's why here, we play knight to f2 and threaten THEIR queen.
Last move to ensure us the win: bishop to c5, pinning the rook to the king.
Well done! We navigated through some tricky traps white had for us, and now we're completely crushing.
Only if you don’t know the follow-up. Mainline theory recommends 3... d6 first because 3... Nxe4 allows 4. Qe2 — but after the precise 4... Qe7! Black regains the piece with 5. Qxe4 d6 and reaches a playable game. The actual losing move is 4... Nf6??, when 5. Nc6+ wins the queen by discovered check.
After 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nxe4 4. Qe2, the natural retreat 4... Nf6?? loses to 5. Nc6+: the knight discovers check from the e2-queen along the open e-file while also attacking Black’s queen on d8. Black must answer the check and loses the queen for a knight. 4... Qe7 is the only good move.
At the elite level it has a famous drawing reputation — Fabiano Caruana used it as a rock-solid equalizer in his 2018 World Championship match. At club level the lines in this course are anything but drawish: one imprecise White move loses material, and the main lines feature opposite-side castling, pawn storms and trapped pieces.
Yes. Both names refer to the opening 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6. It is named after Alexander Petrov, the 19th-century Russian master who analyzed it, and "Russian Game" is the common name for it in much of the chess world.
Yes, with one condition: you must learn the 4. Qe2 Qe7 resource before playing 3... Nxe4, because guessing in that position loses the queen. In exchange you get a forcing, easy-to-remember defense to 1. e4 that avoids the heavy theory of the Ruy Lopez and Italian Game.
Reading about an opening is step one. The trainer at the top of this page drills all 24 lines against the moves real opponents play — the first lines are free.
Train the Petrov Defense now