French Defense: Advance Variation, Milner-Barry Gambit
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3
The French Defense: Advance Variation, Milner-Barry Gambit 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. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 3,971 times by this move order. White won 52%, 4% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 6… Bd7 (51% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 51; best line 6… cxd4 7. O-O Bd7 8. Re1 Nge7 9. h4)
- ECO
- C02
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1b1kbnr/pp3ppp/1qn1p3/2ppP3/3P4/2PB1N2/PP3PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 4 6- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 358 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,397 | |
| 2000+ | 1,216 | |
| All | 3,971 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Bd7 | 2,006 (51%) | |
| 6… cxd4 | 1,434 (36%) | |
| 6… Nge7 | 256 (6%) | |
| 6… Nh6 | 115 (3%) | |
| 6… c4 | 56 (1%) | |
| 6… f6 | 46 (1%) | |
| 6… h6 | 12 (0%) | |
| 6… a6 | 10 (0%) |
Master games
1,015 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 11%, Black 39%). The strongest:
- rofChade 2.321 (3467) – Stoofvlees II a19 (3509) 1-0 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-22
- Stoofvlees II a19 (3509) – rofChade 2.321 (3467) 1-0 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-20
- GM Kirill Shevchenko (2644) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2750) 0-1 · Superbet Blitz 2022 · 2022-05-23
- GM Sarunas Sulskis (2525) – GM Anish Giri (2780) 0-1 · 43rd Olympiad 2018 · 2018-09-28
- GM Kirill Shevchenko (2652) – GM Hans Moke Niemann (2637) 0-1 · chess.com Junior Speed · 2022-05-12
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Drogono (2813) – white-arkangel (2618) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- smihir6 (2720) – Caminero85 (2704) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- HighQualityO (2705) – OnePysy (2676) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 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, Milner-Barry Gambit, Hector Variation (6… cxd4 7. O-O) C02 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3 cxd4 7. O-O
- French Defense: Advance Variation, Milner-Barry Gambit, Main Line 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
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.