French Defense: Advance Variation, Main Line
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3
The French Defense: Advance Variation, Main Line 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. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,796 times by this move order. White won 50%, 6% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 6… cxd4 (23% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.14 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6… c4 7. Nbd2 Na5 8. Be2 Bd7 9. Rb1)
- ECO
- C02
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1b1kbnr/pp3ppp/1qn1p3/2ppP3/3P4/P1P2N2/1P3PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 164 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,569 | |
| 2000+ | 1,063 | |
| All | 2,796 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… cxd4 | 652 (23%) | |
| 6… Bd7 | 574 (21%) | |
| 6… c4 | 459 (16%) | |
| 6… a5 | 381 (14%) | |
| 6… Nge7 | 350 (13%) | |
| 6… Nh6 Advance Variation, Lputian Variation | 295 (11%) | |
| 6… f6 | 50 (2%) | |
| 6… a6 | 17 (1%) |
Master games
2,573 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 47%, draw 18%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- Stoofvlees II a19 (3509) – KomodoDragon 2885.00 (3590) 1-0 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-22
- KomodoDragon 2885.00 (3590) – Stoofvlees II a19 (3509) 1-0 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-20
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2779) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2782) 1/2-1/2 · SuperUnited Rapid 2023 · 2023-07-07
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2803) – GM Praggnanandhaa R (2747) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Candidates 2024 · 2024-04-11
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2750) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2795) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com Speed 1m+1spm 2017 · 2017-10-23
Search all games of the French Defense: Advance Variation, Main Line and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM wLh26 (2808) – X_NOMERCY_X (2725) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- MightBeDecent (2642) – Fraysinator (2719) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- GM Hamisandwich (2629) – IM Burjugul_7 (2619) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Advance Variation, Paulsen Attack 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3
Continuations
- French Defense: Advance Variation, Lputian Variation C02 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3 Nh6
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.