French Defense (2. d4 d5)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5
The French Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C00, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5. White is to move. 10 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 242,994 times by this move order. White won 48%, 5% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 3. e5 (37% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.38 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5)
- ECO
- C00
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/4p3/3p4/3PP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 53,173 | |
| 1500-1999 | 133,787 | |
| 2000+ | 56,034 | |
| All | 242,994 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. e5 Advance Variation (2… d5 3. e5) | 88,882 (37%) | |
| 3. exd5 Exchange Variation (2… d5 3. exd5) | 73,030 (30%) | |
| 3. Nc3 Paulsen Variation | 49,084 (20%) | |
| 3. Nd2 Tarrasch Variation | 21,134 (9%) | |
| 3. Bd3 Schlechter Variation | 5,620 (2%) | |
| 3. Nf3 Perseus Gambit | 1,172 (0%) | |
| 3. f3 | 1,040 (0%) | |
| 3. c4 Diemer-Duhm Gambit | 983 (0%) |
Master games
113 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 28%, draw 22%, Black 50%). The strongest:
- GM Mikhail Kobalia (2538) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2754) 0-1 · Titled Tue 28th Jan Early · 2025-01-28
- GM Sergey A. Fedorchuk (2622) – GM Georg Meier (2622) 1/2-1/2 · 18th Nancy Blitz 2020 · 2020-02-15
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2792) – FM Mykola Korchynskyi (2430) 1-0 · 1st 3-0 Thu 16th Jul 2026 · 2026-07-16
- GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy (2524) – GM Matthias Bluebaum (2670) 0-1 · Titled Tue 19th Sep Late · 2023-09-19
- GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2604) – IM Leon Livaic (2565) 0-1 · Titled Tue 13th Sep Early · 2022-09-13
Search all games of the French Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Sunrise34 (2863) – GM cutemouse83 (2964) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- tsunami10 (2807) – GM cutemouse83 (2970) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- vistagusta (2833) – GM cutemouse83 (2917) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Normal Variation 1. e4 e6 2. d4
Continuations
- French Defense: Advance Variation (2… d5 3. e5) C02 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5
- French Defense: Alapin Gambit C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Be3
- French Defense: Diemer-Duhm Gambit C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. c4
- French Defense: Exchange Variation (2… d5 3. exd5) C01 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5
- French Defense: Morphy Gambit C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nh3
- French Defense: Paulsen Variation C10 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3
- French Defense: Perseus Gambit C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nf3
- French Defense: Schlechter Variation C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Bd3
- French Defense: Tarrasch Variation C03 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2
- French Defense: Hoffmann Gambit C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Qe2 e5 4. f4 exf4
More French Defense lines (all)
- French Defense (1. e4 e6) C00
- French Defense: Baeuerle Gambit C00
- French Defense: Banzai-Leong Gambit C00
- French Defense: Banzai-Leong Gambit, Pinova Gambit C00
- French Defense: Bird Invitation C00
- French Defense: Carlson Gambit C00
- French Defense: Chigorin Variation C00
- French Defense: Diemer-Duhm Gambit Accepted C00
- French Defense: Franco-Hiva Gambit C00
- French Defense: Franco-Hiva Gambit Accepted C00
- French Defense: Franco-Sicilian Defense C00
- French Defense: Horwitz Attack C00
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.