French Defense: Advance Variation (4. c3 Nc6)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6
The French Defense: Advance Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C02, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 35,904 times by this move order. White won 47%, 4% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 5. Nf3 (72% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.11 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3 Nh6 7. Bd3 cxd4)
- ECO
- C02
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pp3ppp/2n1p3/2ppP3/3P4/2P5/PP3PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 6,129 | |
| 1500-1999 | 21,178 | |
| 2000+ | 8,597 | |
| All | 35,904 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Nf3 Advance Variation, Paulsen Attack | 25,969 (72%) | |
| 5. Bb5 | 4,341 (12%) | |
| 5. Be3 Advance Variation, Kupreichik Variation | 1,813 (5%) | |
| 5. f4 | 1,693 (5%) | |
| 5. a3 | 938 (3%) | |
| 5. Bd3 | 286 (1%) | |
| 5. Ne2 | 176 (0%) | |
| 5. b3 | 119 (0%) |
Master games
325 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 32%, draw 11%, Black 57%). The strongest:
- FM Ivan Yeletsky (2494) – GM Matthias Bluebaum (2663) 0-1 · Titled Tue 28th Feb Early · 2023-02-28
- GM Bilel Bellahcene (2516) – GM Yuriy Kuzubov (2605) 1-0 · Titled Tue 9th Jan Late · 2024-01-09
- GM Bilel Bellahcene (2522) – GM Sergey Grigoriants (2534) 0-1 · Titled Tue 26th Mar Late · 2024-03-26
- IM Anna Zatonskih (2489) – GM Monika Socko (2445) 1-0 · SportAccord Blindfold Women 2012 · 2012-12-18
- GM Bilel Bellahcene (2519) – IM Viktor Dmitrenko (2395) 1-0 · Titled Tue 2nd Apr Late · 2024-04-02
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 (3… c5 4. c3) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3
Continuations
- French Defense: Advance Variation, Kupreichik Variation C02 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Be3
- French Defense: Advance Variation, Paulsen Attack C02 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3
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.