French Defense: Classical Variation, Burn Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4
The French Defense: Classical Variation, Burn Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C11, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,084 times by this move order. White won 46%, 8% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 5. Nxe4 (91% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.27 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 5. Nxe4 Nbd7 6. Nf3 Be7 7. Nxf6+ Nxf6)
- ECO
- C11
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/4pn2/6B1/3Pp3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R2QKBNR w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 23 | |
| 1500-1999 | 297 | |
| 2000+ | 764 | |
| All | 1,084 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Nxe4 | 988 (91%) | |
| 5. Bxf6 | 72 (7%) | |
| 5. f3 | 21 (2%) | |
| 5. Nge2 | 1 (0%) | |
| 5. Bc4 | 1 (0%) | |
| 5. d5 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
1,688 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 36%, draw 36%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2764) – GM Vladimir Kramnik (2792) 1-0 · GCT Blitz Paris 2018 · 2018-06-24
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2735) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2797) 1/2-1/2 · WR Chess Masters 2024 · 2024-10-17
- GM Jorden Van Foreest (2714) – GM Liren Ding (2799) 1/2-1/2 · Charity Cup KO 2022 · 2022-03-23
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2734) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2762) 0-1 · Superbet POL Blitz 2024 · 2024-05-11
- GM Awonder Liang (2643) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2852) 0-1 · PRO League Prelim 2023 · 2023-02-15
Search all games of the French Defense: Classical Variation, Burn Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM Niksss2023 (2802) – GM Dragso (2755) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- TheorySpeedrun (2723) – smihir6 (2717) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- RoryMcCann (2669) – GM Dragso (2746) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Classical Variation (3… Nf6 4. Bg5) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5
Continuations
- French Defense: Classical Variation (5. Nxe4 Be7) C13 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7
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.