French Defense: Classical Variation (5. Nxe4 Be7)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7
The French Defense: Classical Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C13, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 707 times by this move order. White won 48%, 8% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 6. Bxf6 (60% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.25 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 6. Bxf6 gxf6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O f5)
- ECO
- C13
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp1bppp/4pn2/6B1/3PN3/8/PPP2PPP/R2QKBNR w KQkq - 1 6- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 18 | |
| 1500-1999 | 203 | |
| 2000+ | 486 | |
| All | 707 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Bxf6 | 421 (60%) | |
| 6. Nxf6+ | 227 (32%) | |
| 6. Ng3 | 22 (3%) | |
| 6. Bd3 | 20 (3%) | |
| 6. Nf3 | 7 (1%) | |
| 6. Nc3 | 4 (1%) | |
| 6. Qf3 | 2 (0%) | |
| 6. f3 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
1,224 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 36%, draw 29%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2772) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2764) 1-0 · World Blitz 2021 · 2021-12-29
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2783) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2745) 1/2-1/2 · Chess.com RCC Wk22 Swiss · 2022-07-23
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2835) – GM Matthias Bluebaum (2660) 1-0 · Chess24 Banter Final 2020 · 2020-09-22
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2835) – GM Matthias Bluebaum (2660) 0-1 · Chess24 Banter Final 2020 · 2020-09-22
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2786) – GM Matthias Bluebaum (2668) 0-1 · Titled Tue 17th Oct Late · 2023-10-17
Search all games of the French Defense: Classical Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- TheorySpeedrun (2723) – smihir6 (2717) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- TheorySpeedrun (2675) – Alisherkaaaa (2719) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- TheorySpeedrun (2673) – Alisherkaaaa (2680) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Classical Variation, Burn Variation 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4
Continuations
- French Defense: Classical Variation, Burn Variation, Morozevich Line C11 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Bxf6 gxf6
- French Defense: Classical Variation, Burn Variation, Main Line C11 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7. Nf3 O-O
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.