French Defense: Alekhine-Chatard Attack, Spielmann Variation

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4 O-O

The French Defense: Alekhine-Chatard Attack, Spielmann Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C13, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4 O-O. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 56 times by this move order. White won 52%, 14% were drawn and Black won 34%. The most popular continuation is 7. Qg4 (34% of games).

Engine evaluation: +1.27 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 7. Qh5 c5 8. Bd3 g6 9. Qh6 Nc6)

ECO: C13
Moves: 12 plies
FEN: rnbq1rk1/pppnbppp/4p3/3pP1B1/3P3P/2N5/PPP2PP1/R2QKBNR w KQ - 1 7
PGN: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4 O-O

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	2	100%
1500-1999	18	67%28%
2000+	36	42%19%39%
All	56	52%14%34%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
7. Qg4	19 (34%)	63%16%21%
7. Bd3	14 (25%)	64%15%21%
7. f4	5 (9%)	20%20%60%
7. Qd2	5 (9%)	40%60%
7. Nf3	4 (7%)	50%50%
7. Bxe7	4 (7%)	50%50%
7. Qh5	3 (5%)	67%33%
7. Nh3	2 (4%)	50%50%

Master games

81 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 17%, Black 40%). The strongest:

GM David Anton Guijarro (2581) – IM Daniel Forcen Esteban (2501) 1/2-1/2 · XXIX Sestao Open 2013 · 2013-11-02
GM David Larino Nieto (2484) – GM Daniel Forcen Esteban (2565) 1/2-1/2 · 8th Carlos I Open 2016 · 2016-06-29
GM Baadur Jobava (2603) – GM Zaur Mammadov (2417) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 22nd Dec · 2020-12-22
IM Mikhail Al. Antipov (2470) – GM Alexandre Danin (2525) 0-1 · 23rd Czech Open A · 2012-07-23
GM Boris Savchenko (2556) – FM Oleg Yuzhakov (2353) 1-0 · VIII Governor's Cup · 2012-11-17

Search all games of the French Defense: Alekhine-Chatard Attack, Spielmann Variation and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

SolaceOfNight (2526) – goldking7 (2454) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Asala5 (2477) – goldking7 (2473) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
SergeiRK (2480) – goldking7 (2460) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

French Defense: Alekhine-Chatard Attack 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4

More French Defense lines (all)

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.