French Defense: Classical Variation, Normal Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7
The French Defense: Classical Variation, Normal Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C13, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move. 5 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 3,372 times by this move order. White won 52%, 5% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 5. e5 (77% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.29 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. f4 a6)
- ECO
- C13
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp1bppp/4pn2/3p2B1/3PP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R2QKBNR w KQkq - 4 5- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 132 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,748 | |
| 2000+ | 1,492 | |
| All | 3,372 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. e5 | 2,583 (77%) | |
| 5. Bxf6 Classical Variation, Richter Attack (4… Be7 5. Bxf6) | 395 (12%) | |
| 5. exd5 | 134 (4%) | |
| 5. Nf3 | 99 (3%) | |
| 5. Bd3 | 77 (2%) | |
| 5. Bb5+ | 19 (1%) | |
| 5. f3 | 12 (0%) | |
| 5. Qf3 | 10 (0%) |
Master games
90 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 21%, Black 39%). The strongest:
- GM Pavel Simacek (2481) – GM Robert Cvek (2517) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-CZE 1 Liga Vychod · 2020-03-01
- IM Herman C. Van Riemsdijk (2352) – GM Aleksandr Lenderman (2636) 0-1 · 10th American Continental · 2015-05-16
- IM Alexandre Domont (2364) – GM Korchnoi, V. (2558) 1-0 · 112th ch-SUI 2012 · 2012-07-17
- IM Mollov, E. (2354) – GM Evgeny Gleizerov (2531) 0-1 · TCh-EUR Senior 2014 · 2014-04-02
- GM Baadur Jobava (2582) – FM Marek Karas (2287) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tuesday 12th Oct · 2021-10-12
Search all games of the French Defense: Classical Variation, Normal Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- smihir6 (2702) – FM Guary1 (2868) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- RoryMcCann (2673) – nguyentungquan (2732) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Zenith_Shift (2563) – IM shuriks91 (2755) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 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, Richter Attack (4… Be7 5. Bxf6) C13 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Bxf6
- French Defense: Classical Variation, Tartakower Variation C13 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Ne4
- French Defense: Classical Variation, Vistaneckis Variation C13 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Ng8
- French Defense: Alekhine-Chatard Attack C13 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4
- French Defense: Classical Variation (6. Bxe7 Qxe7) C14 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7
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.