French Defense: Advance Variation (3. e5 c5)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5
The French Defense: Advance Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C02, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move. 5 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 76,563 times by this move order. White won 46%, 4% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 4. c3 (67% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.20 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3 c4)
- ECO
- C02
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp3ppp/4p3/2ppP3/3P4/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 21,067 | |
| 1500-1999 | 42,779 | |
| 2000+ | 12,717 | |
| All | 76,563 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. c3 Advance Variation (3… c5 4. c3) | 51,466 (67%) | |
| 4. Nf3 Advance Variation, Nimzowitsch System | 13,938 (18%) | |
| 4. Bb5+ | 2,448 (3%) | |
| 4. dxc5 Advance Variation, Steinitz Variation | 2,187 (3%) | |
| 4. Be3 | 1,793 (2%) | |
| 4. f4 | 1,471 (2%) | |
| 4. c4 | 1,157 (2%) | |
| 4. Qg4 Advance Variation, Nimzowitsch Attack | 961 (1%) |
Master games
160 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 27%, draw 14%, Black 59%). The strongest:
- IM Stockova, Z. (2368) – GM Kacper Piorun (2685) 0-1 · 27th Czech Rapid G1 2016 · 2016-07-20
- IM Anatolyi Zajarnyi (2272) – GM Nigel D Short (2683) 1/2-1/2 · Chebanenko Rapid Open · 2017-03-31
- GM Eduard Andreev (2498) – Jan Turner (2395) 1-0 · 23rd Czech Open Rapid · 2012-07-19
- FM Dario Dutina (2265) – GM Ante Saric (2546) 1-0 · TCh-CRO Div 1a 2014 · 2014-10-09
- Rick Lahaye (2411) – FM Jasel Lopez (2388) 0-1 · 11th dMP Batavia Blitz · 2019-03-10
Search all games of the French Defense: Advance Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- El_Banditoff (2740) – GM cutemouse83 (2926) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- FM The_Fawkes (2686) – GM cutemouse83 (2913) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Epichess95 (2818) – McMasterKid (2768) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Advance Variation (2… d5 3. e5) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5
Continuations
- French Defense: Advance Variation (3… c5 4. c3) C02 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3
- French Defense: Advance Variation, Frenkel Gambit C02 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. b4
- French Defense: Advance Variation, Nimzowitsch Attack C02 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Qg4
- French Defense: Advance Variation, Nimzowitsch System C02 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Nf3
- French Defense: Advance Variation, Steinitz Variation C02 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5
More French Defense lines (all)
- French Defense (1. e4 e6) C00
- French Defense (2. d4 d5) C00
- French Defense: Alapin Gambit 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 C00
- French Defense: Diemer-Duhm Gambit Accepted C00
- French Defense: Franco-Hiva Gambit 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.