French Defense: Classical Variation (5… Nfd7 6. Bg5)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 a6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bg5
The French Defense: Classical Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C14, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 a6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bg5. 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 1 times by this move order. White won 0%, 0% were drawn and Black won 100%. The most popular continuation is 6… Be7 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.11 (Stockfish, depth 28; best line 6… Be7 7. Bxe7 Qxe7 8. Bd3 c5 9. dxc5)
- ECO
- C14
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/1ppn1ppp/p3p3/3pP1B1/3P4/2N2N2/PPP2PPP/R2QKB1R b KQkq - 2 6- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 a6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bg5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| All | 1 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Be7 | 1 (100%) |
Master games
1 over-the-board game is classified under this line (White 100%, draw 0%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- WGM Tatjana Melamed (2356) – WFM Aleksandra Dimitrijevic (2280) 1-0 · 40th Olympiad Women · 2012-08-29
Search all games of the French Defense: Classical Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- hudsonclub44 (1482) – paltus12 (1517) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Steinitz Variation (5. e5 Nfd7) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 a6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7
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.