French Defense: Advance Variation, Milner-Barry Gambit, Main Line
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3 cxd4 7. cxd4 Bd7 8. O-O
The French Defense: Advance Variation, Milner-Barry Gambit, 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. Bd3 cxd4 7. cxd4 Bd7 8. O-O. 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 311 times by this move order. White won 54%, 4% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 8… Nxd4 (89% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.13 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 8… Nxd4 9. Nbd2 Nxf3+ 10. Nxf3 Bb5 11. Be3)
- ECO
- C02
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
r3kbnr/pp1b1ppp/1qn1p3/3pP3/3P4/3B1N2/PP3PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - 2 8- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3 cxd4 7. cxd4 Bd7 8. O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 17 | |
| 1500-1999 | 175 | |
| 2000+ | 119 | |
| All | 311 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… Nxd4 | 278 (89%) | |
| 8… Nge7 | 15 (5%) | |
| 8… Nb4 | 8 (3%) | |
| 8… Nh6 | 4 (1%) | |
| 8… Be7 | 3 (1%) | |
| 8… Rc8 | 2 (1%) | |
| 8… Qxd4 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
236 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 11%, Black 48%). The strongest:
- GM Vasif Durarbayli (2606) – GM Georg Meier (2628) 1-0 · European Online CC PlayB · 2021-03-29
- GM Velimir Ivic (2581) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2559) 0-1 · Chess.com Bullet Open 1 · 2020-12-19
- GM Andres Rodriguez Vila (2531) – GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov (2582) 1-0 · 1st Simon Bolivar Open 2012 · 2012-09-30
- GM Gukesh D (2730) – IM Thomas E Rendle (2379) 1-0 · Titled Tue 28th Mar Early · 2023-03-28
- IM Ezra Kirk (2447) – GM Maxim Rodshtein (2614) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-FRA Top 12 2021 · 2021-06-24
Highest-rated Lichess games
- afchex (2436) – differently_built (2521) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- TePateo (2474) – azores2022 (2394) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 600 + 0s
- LevPaukman (2445) – thansen5 (2419) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
French Defense: Advance Variation, Milner-Barry Gambit 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3
Continuations
- French Defense: Advance Variation, Milner-Barry Gambit, Sørensen Variation C02 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3 cxd4 7. cxd4 Bd7 8. O-O Nxd4 9. Ng5
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.