French Defense: Advance Variation, Nimzowitsch Gambit
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Qg4 cxd4 5. Nf3
The French Defense: Advance Variation, Nimzowitsch Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C02, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Qg4 cxd4 5. Nf3. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 272 times by this move order. White won 56%, 4% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 5… Nc6 (84% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.65 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 5… Nc6 6. Bd3 h5 7. Qf4 f6 8. h4)
- ECO
- C02
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp3ppp/4p3/3pP3/3p2Q1/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNB1KB1R b KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Qg4 cxd4 5. Nf3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 106 | |
| 2000+ | 166 | |
| All | 272 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Nc6 | 228 (84%) | |
| 5… Ne7 | 11 (4%) | |
| 5… h5 | 8 (3%) | |
| 5… Qa5+ | 4 (1%) | |
| 5… Qb6 | 3 (1%) | |
| 5… Bb4+ | 3 (1%) | |
| 5… h6 | 3 (1%) | |
| 5… g6 | 2 (1%) |
Master games
133 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 9%, Black 53%). The strongest:
- IM Evgeny Egorov (2314) – GM Evgeny Postny (2605) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 10th Nov · 2020-11-10
- Maciej Swicarz (2341) – IM Pablo Ismael Acosta (2465) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 22nd Dec · 2020-12-22
- FM Yurii N. Khodko (2354) – IM Mayank Chakraborty (2444) 0-1 · Titled Tue 11th Mar Early · 2025-03-11
- Joachim Mouhamad (2226) – IM Hovhanisian, M. (2526) 0-1 · Cappelle-la-Grande Open 2014 · 2014-03-02
- Maximiliano Codigone (2107) – GM Haik M. Martirosyan (2625) 0-1 · 1st 3-0 Thu 18th Dec 2025 · 2025-12-18
Search all games of the French Defense: Advance Variation, Nimzowitsch Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Dr_Ragin (2670) – WFM haski_2014 (2577) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Dr_Ragin (2672) – saltwatercrcodile (2445) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Dr_Ragin (2664) – VGZChess (2335) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Advance Variation, Nimzowitsch Attack 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Qg4
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.