French Defense: Classical Variation, Shirov-Anand Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Nce2
The French Defense: Classical Variation, Shirov-Anand Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C11, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Nce2. 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 1,153 times by this move order. White won 51%, 5% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 5… c5 (94% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 62; best line 5… c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. f4 a5 8. Nf3)
- ECO
- C11
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppn1ppp/4p3/3pP3/3P4/8/PPP1NPPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 2 5- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Nce2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 10 | |
| 1500-1999 | 440 | |
| 2000+ | 703 | |
| All | 1,153 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… c5 | 1,079 (94%) | |
| 5… a6 | 22 (2%) | |
| 5… Be7 | 21 (2%) | |
| 5… f6 | 10 (1%) | |
| 5… b6 | 6 (1%) | |
| 5… Bb4+ | 3 (0%) | |
| 5… Nc6 | 3 (0%) | |
| 5… h6 | 3 (0%) |
Master games
2,090 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 49%, draw 19%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2778) 1-0 · FIDE World Bl Team Final · 2024-08-05
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2805) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2801) 1-0 · World Blitz 2024 · 2024-12-30
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2831) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2755) 0-1 · World Blitz Final KO 2024 · 2024-12-31
- GM Pentala Harikrishna (2716) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2864) 0-1 · Charity Cup Prelim · 2022-03-19
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2743) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2823) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 2020 · 2020-11-15
Highest-rated Lichess games
- puziko52 (2854) – FM Guary1 (2884) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- metan0ia (2694) – IM OctaChamp (2589) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 0s
- malosize (2759) – Mokaboka (2501) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Classical Variation, Steinitz Variation (3… Nf6 4. e5) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5
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.