French Defense: Exchange Variation, Bogoljubow Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bg5 Nc6
The French Defense: Exchange Variation, Bogoljubow Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C01, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bg5 Nc6. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 42 times by this move order. White won 40%, 3% were drawn and Black won 57%. The most popular continuation is 6. Nf3 (40% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.11 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 6. Bb5 Be7 7. Nf3 h6 8. Bh4 O-O)
- ECO
- C01
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/ppp2ppp/2n2n2/3p2B1/3P4/2N5/PPP2PPP/R2QKBNR w KQkq - 4 6- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bg5 Nc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 21 | |
| 1500-1999 | 20 | |
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 42 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Nf3 | 17 (40%) | |
| 6. Bb5 | 12 (29%) | |
| 6. Bxf6 | 5 (12%) | |
| 6. Qe2+ | 3 (7%) | |
| 6. Nxd5 | 2 (5%) | |
| 6. Be2 | 1 (2%) | |
| 6. a3 | 1 (2%) | |
| 6. Qf3 | 1 (2%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Daniel_Cervenka (2019) – hajimemashite (1998) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- HananBayu (1933) – shiftyharry (1972) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 0s
- calleta (1877) – Ramart (1877) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Exchange Variation (3… exd5 4. Nc3) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nc3
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.