French Defense: Classical Variation, Pollock Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. Qg4
The French Defense: Classical Variation, Pollock Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C14, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. Qg4. 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 155 times by this move order. White won 55%, 4% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 7… O-O (62% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 7… O-O 8. f4 c5 9. Nf3 Nc6 10. O-O-O)
- ECO
- C14
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
rnb1k2r/pppnqppp/4p3/3pP3/3P2Q1/2N5/PPP2PPP/R3KBNR b KQkq - 1 7- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. Qg4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4 | |
| 1500-1999 | 71 | |
| 2000+ | 80 | |
| All | 155 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… O-O | 96 (62%) | |
| 7… f5 | 23 (15%) | |
| 7… g6 | 22 (14%) | |
| 7… f6 | 4 (3%) | |
| 7… Kf8 | 4 (3%) | |
| 7… Rg8 | 2 (1%) | |
| 7… g5 | 1 (1%) | |
| 7… c5 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
107 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 56%, draw 12%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Jose Carlos Ibarra Jerez (2533) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2775) 0-1 · Titled Tue 3rd Mar 2026 · 2026-03-03
- GM Jose Carlos Ibarra Jerez (2533) – GM Volodar Murzin (2652) 0-1 · Titled Tue 3rd Feb 2026 · 2026-02-03
- GM Jose Carlos Ibarra Jerez (2559) – GM Evgeny Postny (2600) 1-0 · Titled Tue 9th Apr Early · 2024-04-09
- GM Jose Carlos Ibarra Jerez (2559) – IM Alejandro Moreno Trujillo (2485) 1-0 · ch-ESP Blitz 2024 · 2024-08-16
- IM Nodar Lortkipanidze (2382) – GM Aram Hakobyan (2638) 0-1 · Titled Tue 22nd Sep 2026 · 2026-09-22
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM HelloItsDmitri (2576) – kasparik_garik (2646) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- GM Digora (2610) – SySpector (2558) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- NJA_B (2441) – Queen_Alpha (2481) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Classical Variation (6. Bxe7 Qxe7) 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.