French Defense: Classical Variation, Tarrasch Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. Bd3
The French Defense: Classical Variation, Tarrasch 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. Bd3. 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 65 times by this move order. White won 51%, 7% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 7… c5 (46% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.09 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 7… Qb4 8. Ne2 c5 9. a3 Qb6 10. Na4)
- ECO
- C14
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
rnb1k2r/pppnqppp/4p3/3pP3/3P4/2NB4/PPP2PPP/R2QK1NR b KQkq - 1 7- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. Bd3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 49 | |
| 2000+ | 14 | |
| All | 65 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… c5 | 30 (46%) | |
| 7… a6 | 23 (35%) | |
| 7… O-O | 10 (15%) | |
| 7… Qb4 | 2 (3%) |
Master games
18 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 17%, Black 39%). The strongest:
- Jasper De Jong (2147) – Andrew M Stone (2209) 1/2-1/2 · 38th Eastman Open 2015 · 2015-07-22
- Jose Renato Ruiz Maranhao (2024) – FM Charles Gauche (2218) 0-1 · 9th Ribeira Valley Open 2013 · 2013-08-02
- Stojkovic, Zo. (1962) – IM Ivica Raicevic (2256) 0-1 · Nis Open 2013 · 2013-03-23
- Alexander Oye-Stromberg (2111) – Max Dahl (2041) 1-0 · Fagernes GM Open 2021 · 2021-10-12
- WFM Hegarty, S. (2124) – Malcolm J Armstrong (2014) 1/2-1/2 · 100th ch-GBR 2013 · 2013-08-01
Highest-rated Lichess games
- ALnasrmm1703 (2256) – trkacot6 (2210) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 300 + 0s
- Bad_ngueve (2171) – Auraburgos10 (2262) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- Bislan_0101 (2122) – Lxevenxl (2286) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 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.