French Defense: Classical Variation, Richter Attack (4… Be7 5. Bxf6)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Bxf6
The French Defense: Classical Variation, Richter Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C13, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Bxf6. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 395 times by this move order. White won 50%, 3% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 5… Bxf6 (95% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.14 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 5… Bxf6 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Qd2 c5 8. dxc5)
- ECO
- C13
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp1bppp/4pB2/3p4/3PP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R2QKBNR b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Bxf6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 19 | |
| 1500-1999 | 244 | |
| 2000+ | 132 | |
| All | 395 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Bxf6 | 375 (95%) | |
| 5… gxf6 | 20 (5%) |
Master games
115 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 24%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2604) – IM Leon Livaic (2576) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 9th Aug Late · 2022-08-09
- GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2604) – IM Leon Livaic (2576) 1-0 · Titled Tue 19th Jul Late · 2022-07-19
- GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2604) – GM Simon K Williams (2464) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 19th Oct · 2021-10-19
- GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2598) – FM Jung Min Seo (2453) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 20th Apr · 2021-04-20
- GM Ilmars Starostits (2467) – GM Evgeny Gleizerov (2531) 1-0 · Petrov Memorial Rapid 2014 · 2014-02-21
Search all games of the French Defense: Classical Variation, Richter Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Pouya1360 (2475) – ecolefrancaise (2477) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Dzon_Vejn (2347) – Masaker100 (2375) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Dzon_Vejn (2336) – jswift (2381) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Classical Variation, Normal Variation 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7
Continuations
- French Defense: Classical Variation, Richter Attack (6… Be7 7. Qg4) C13 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Bxf6 Bxf6 6. e5 Be7 7. Qg4
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.