French Defense: Chigorin Variation
1. e4 e6 2. Qe2
The French Defense: Chigorin Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C00, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. Qe2. 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 2,728 times by this move order. White won 52%, 4% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 2… d5 (42% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.05 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 2… c5 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 d6 5. a4)
- ECO
- C00
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/4p3/8/4P3/8/PPPPQPPP/RNB1KBNR b KQkq - 1 2- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. Qe2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 264 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,262 | |
| 2000+ | 1,202 | |
| All | 2,728 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… d5 | 1,138 (42%) | |
| 2… c5 | 505 (19%) | |
| 2… Be7 | 189 (7%) | |
| 2… b6 | 170 (6%) | |
| 2… Nf6 | 143 (5%) | |
| 2… Nc6 | 143 (5%) | |
| 2… c6 | 108 (4%) | |
| 2… d6 | 101 (4%) |
Master games
4,090 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 49%, draw 18%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.30-dag-9a9c42d_784968 (3599) – Stockfish dev16_20221027 (3625) 1-0 · TCEC 23 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-11-15
- Stockfish dev16_20221027 (3625) – LCZero 0.30-dag-9a9c42d_784968 (3599) 1-0 · TCEC 23 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-11-15
- Caissa 1.21.2 (3545) – Obsidian 14.06 (3555) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-08
- Obsidian 14.06 (3555) – Caissa 1.21.2 (3545) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-06
- KomodoDragon 3.2 (3569) – Koivisto 9.2 (3493) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-28
Search all games of the French Defense: Chigorin Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Nut5105 (2685) – FM Guary1 (2868) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- IM Jamorris94 (2769) – IM J_Oneee (2750) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- IM Jamorris94 (2772) – FM TrixR4Kidzzz (2718) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense (1. e4 e6) 1. e4 e6
More French Defense lines (all)
- 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: Diemer-Duhm Gambit C00
- French Defense: Diemer-Duhm Gambit Accepted C00
- French Defense: Franco-Hiva Gambit C00
- French Defense: Franco-Hiva Gambit Accepted C00
- French Defense: Franco-Sicilian Defense 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.