French Defense: Advance Variation, Kupreichik Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Be3
The French Defense: Advance Variation, Kupreichik Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C02, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Be3. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,813 times by this move order. White won 46%, 4% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 5… Qb6 (54% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.23 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 5… Nh6 6. Bd3 Qb6 7. Ne2 Bd7 8. O-O)
- ECO
- C02
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pp3ppp/2n1p3/2ppP3/3P4/2P1B3/PP3PPP/RN1QKBNR b KQkq - 2 5- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Be3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 392 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,108 | |
| 2000+ | 313 | |
| All | 1,813 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Qb6 | 982 (54%) | |
| 5… cxd4 | 341 (19%) | |
| 5… Bd7 | 174 (10%) | |
| 5… Nge7 | 162 (9%) | |
| 5… c4 | 31 (2%) | |
| 5… f6 | 25 (1%) | |
| 5… b6 | 25 (1%) | |
| 5… Nh6 | 19 (1%) |
Master games
304 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 13%, Black 46%). The strongest:
- GM Alexander Bagrationi (2454) – GM Matthias Bluebaum (2660) 0-1 · Titled Tue 18th Apr Early · 2023-04-18
- GM Alexander Cherniaev (2447) – GM Matthieu Cornette (2578) 0-1 · Geneva Open A 2013 · 2013-06-27
- GM Alexander Bagrationi (2454) – GM Aleksandr Lenderman (2535) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 20th Sep Early · 2022-09-20
- GM Alexander Bagrationi (2491) – IM David Gorodetzky (2486) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-ISR 2020 · 2020-09-04
- IM Lazar Nestorovic (2371) – GM Dragan Kosic (2487) 1/2-1/2 · 10th Paracin Summer Open · 2017-07-08
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Grygoriy12345 (2450) – Regulator714 (2409) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 600 + 0s
- Beutlin1 (2356) – akob24 (2479) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 300 + 0s
- againagain (2498) – chess-friend-123 (2332) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
French Defense: Advance Variation (4. c3 Nc6) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6
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.