Philidor Defense:Hanham Variation

It is reached after 6 moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7. It is a line of the Philidor Defense.

White is to move and has 36 legal moves. Over the next four moves — two for each side — the game can branch into 1,049,098 different games. Those games reach 351,291 different positions: most positions can be reached in more than one way, 3 on average.

The Lichess opening list names 6 further lines after this position, such as Krause Variation (4. Bc4 c6 5. O-O) and Sharp Variation (4. Bc4 Nb6).

The same moves can be played in 18 different legal orders that all reach this position. For example 1. Nf3 e5 2. e4 d6 3. d4 Nd7, which starts as the Zukertort Opening.