French Defense: Advance Variation, Lputian Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3 Nh6
The French Defense: Advance Variation, Lputian Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C02, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3 Nh6. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 295 times by this move order. White won 47%, 8% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 7. b4 (59% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.22 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 7. Bd3 cxd4 8. O-O Bd7 9. b4 Rc8)
- ECO
- C02
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1b1kb1r/pp3ppp/1qn1p2n/2ppP3/3P4/P1P2N2/1P3PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 1 7- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3 Nh6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 29 | |
| 1500-1999 | 139 | |
| 2000+ | 127 | |
| All | 295 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. b4 | 175 (59%) | |
| 7. Bd3 | 64 (22%) | |
| 7. Bxh6 | 33 (11%) | |
| 7. Be2 | 11 (4%) | |
| 7. h3 | 4 (1%) | |
| 7. Nbd2 | 3 (1%) | |
| 7. Bb5 | 1 (0%) | |
| 7. Ng5 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
1,023 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 20%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2792) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2791) 0-1 · FIDE World Blitz 2014 · 2014-06-19
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2751) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802) 1-0 · Saint Louis Rapid 2024 · 2024-08-13
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2757) – GM Levon Aronian (2747) 1-0 · Superbet POL Blitz 2025 · 2025-04-30
- GM Levon Aronian (2742) – GM So, W. (2753) 1-0 · Levitov Chess Week Rapid · 2023-09-22
- GM Alexei Shirov (2684) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2787) 0-1 · 5th Zurich CC 2016 · 2016-02-13
Search all games of the French Defense: Advance Variation, Lputian Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM Hamisandwich (2660) – Neftegor (2516) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- KrsnArjun (2482) – Pirat52 (2599) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- Jaybee1377 (2492) – Neftegor (2491) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Advance Variation, Main Line 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3
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.