French Defense: Advance Variation, Nimzowitsch Attack
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Qg4
The French Defense: Advance Variation, Nimzowitsch Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C02, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Qg4. 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 961 times by this move order. White won 57%, 3% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 4… Nc6 (43% of games).
Engine evaluation: −1.08 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 4… Nc6 5. Nf3 cxd4 6. Bd3 h5 7. Qf4)
- ECO
- C02
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp3ppp/4p3/2ppP3/3P2Q1/8/PPP2PPP/RNB1KBNR b KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Qg4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 28 | |
| 1500-1999 | 418 | |
| 2000+ | 515 | |
| All | 961 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Nc6 | 411 (43%) | |
| 4… cxd4 | 350 (36%) | |
| 4… Ne7 | 46 (5%) | |
| 4… Qb6 | 46 (5%) | |
| 4… h5 | 36 (4%) | |
| 4… f5 | 23 (2%) | |
| 4… g6 | 11 (1%) | |
| 4… Bd7 | 7 (1%) |
Master games
180 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 15%, Black 42%). The strongest:
- FM Yakov Ginzburg (2405) – GM Matthias Bluebaum (2672) 0-1 · Titled Tue 25th Jul Early · 2023-07-25
- FM Yurii N. Khodko (2354) – GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (2611) 0-1 · Titled Tue 4th Feb Early · 2025-02-04
- FM Yakov Ginzburg (2405) – IM Renato Terry (2520) 0-1 · Titled Tue 13th Jun Early · 2023-06-13
- CM Vladimir Mikhailovsky (2215) – GM Matthias Bluebaum (2672) 0-1 · Titled Tue 18th Jul Late · 2023-07-18
- FM Yakov Ginzburg (2405) – IM Matvey Galchenko (2449) 1-0 · Titled Tue 15th Nov Early · 2022-11-15
Search all games of the French Defense: Advance Variation, Nimzowitsch Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM MassterofMayhem (2657) – GM Masya1984 (2639) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- IM MassterofMayhem (2616) – Fools_For_Luck (2652) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Dr_Ragin (2670) – WFM haski_2014 (2577) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Advance Variation (3. e5 c5) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5
Continuations
- French Defense: Advance Variation, Nimzowitsch Gambit C02 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Qg4 cxd4 5. Nf3
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.