French Defense: Alekhine-Chatard Attack
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4
The French Defense: Alekhine-Chatard Attack 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. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move. 5 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 958 times by this move order. White won 55%, 4% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 6… Bxg5 (31% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.28 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 6… Bxg5 7. hxg5 Qxg5 8. Nh3 Qh4 9. g3)
- ECO
- C13
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/pppnbppp/4p3/3pP1B1/3P3P/2N5/PPP2PP1/R2QKBNR b KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 6 | |
| 1500-1999 | 393 | |
| 2000+ | 559 | |
| All | 958 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Bxg5 | 295 (31%) | |
| 6… h6 | 260 (27%) | |
| 6… a6 Alekhine-Chatard Attack, Maróczy Variation | 201 (21%) | |
| 6… c5 Alekhine-Chatard Attack, Breyer Variation | 121 (13%) | |
| 6… O-O Alekhine-Chatard Attack, Spielmann Variation | 56 (6%) | |
| 6… f6 Alekhine-Chatard Attack, Teichmann Variation | 11 (1%) | |
| 6… Nc6 | 6 (1%) | |
| 6… h5 | 4 (0%) |
Master games
867 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 49%, draw 18%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2757) – GM Yifan Hou (2673) 1-0 · 77th Tata Steel GpA · 2015-01-10
- GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2612) – GM Anton Korobov (2688) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-ESP Div Honor 2020 · 2020-09-24
- GM Yangyi Yu (2675) – GM Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen (2621) 1/2-1/2 · Asian Nations Cup 2014 · 2014-05-24
- GM Evgeniy Najer (2633) – GM Vadim Zvjaginsev (2659) 1-0 · FIDE World Blitz 2013 · 2013-06-10
- GM Baadur Jobava (2603) – GM Anton Korobov (2688) 0-1 · Fiona's Fight Night 3 · 2020-07-08
Search all games of the French Defense: Alekhine-Chatard Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- smihir6 (2702) – FM Guary1 (2868) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Professor_check (2583) – The_Pursuer (2641) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
- Ariel_mlr (2555) – IM Burjugul_7 (2582) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Classical Variation, Normal Variation 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7
Continuations
- French Defense: Alekhine-Chatard Attack, Breyer Variation C13 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4 c5
- French Defense: Alekhine-Chatard Attack, Maróczy Variation C13 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4 a6
- French Defense: Alekhine-Chatard Attack, Spielmann Variation C13 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4 O-O
- French Defense: Alekhine-Chatard Attack, Teichmann Variation C13 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4 f6
- French Defense: Alekhine-Chatard Attack, Albin-Chatard Gambit C13 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4 Bxg5 7. hxg5 Qxg5
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.