French Defense: Classical Variation (3… Nf6 4. Bg5)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5
The French Defense: Classical Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C11, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 5,766 times by this move order. White won 50%, 6% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 4… Be7 (58% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.17 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4… dxe4 5. Nxe4 Nbd7 6. Nf3 h6 7. Nxf6+)
- ECO
- C11
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/4pn2/3p2B1/3PP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R2QKBNR b KQkq - 3 4- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 219 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,500 | |
| 2000+ | 3,047 | |
| All | 5,766 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Be7 Classical Variation, Normal Variation | 3,372 (58%) | |
| 4… dxe4 Classical Variation, Burn Variation | 1,084 (19%) | |
| 4… Bb4 McCutcheon Variation | 877 (15%) | |
| 4… h6 | 356 (6%) | |
| 4… c5 | 20 (0%) | |
| 4… c6 | 11 (0%) | |
| 4… Nbd7 | 11 (0%) | |
| 4… Nfd7 | 7 (0%) |
Master games
417 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 26%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (2700) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2853) 0-1 · Superbet Rapid 2023 · 2023-05-23
- GM Praggnanandhaa R (2678) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2859) 1/2-1/2 · Meltwater Tour Final 2022 · 2022-11-19
- GM Levon Aronian (2742) – GM So, W. (2753) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess 2023 · 2023-09-05
- GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2731) – GM Vladimir Kramnik (2753) 1/2-1/2 · Armageddon Asia&Oceania L · 2023-04-09
- GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2731) – GM Vladimir Kramnik (2753) 1-0 · Armageddon Asia&Oceania L · 2023-04-09
Search all games of the French Defense: Classical Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- smihir6 (2702) – FM Guary1 (2868) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- GM Niksss2023 (2802) – GM Dragso (2755) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- TheorySpeedrun (2723) – smihir6 (2717) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Classical Variation (3. Nc3 Nf6) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6
Continuations
- French Defense: Classical Variation, Burn Variation C11 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4
- French Defense: Classical Variation, Normal Variation C13 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7
- French Defense: McCutcheon Variation C12 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4
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.