French Defense: Horwitz Attack, Papa-Ticulat Gambit
1. e4 e6 2. b3 d5 3. Bb2
The French Defense: Horwitz Attack, Papa-Ticulat Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C00, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. b3 d5 3. Bb2. 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 2,721 times by this move order. White won 50%, 5% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 3… dxe4 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.17 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 3… a6 4. exd5 exd5 5. d4 Nf6 6. Nf3)
- ECO
- C00
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/4p3/3p4/4P3/1P6/PBPP1PPP/RN1QKBNR b KQkq - 1 3- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. b3 d5 3. Bb2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 286 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,511 | |
| 2000+ | 924 | |
| All | 2,721 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… dxe4 | 1,349 (50%) | |
| 3… Nf6 | 581 (21%) | |
| 3… c5 | 306 (11%) | |
| 3… d4 | 263 (10%) | |
| 3… Nc6 | 97 (4%) | |
| 3… c6 | 35 (1%) | |
| 3… f6 | 18 (1%) | |
| 3… a6 | 16 (1%) |
Master games
1,648 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 16%, Black 39%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2841) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2761) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Bl Team 5-8th · 2026-06-21
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2859) – GM Matthias Bluebaum (2651) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 29th Nov Late · 2022-11-29
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2859) – GM Ivan Salgado Lopez (2591) 1-0 · MrDodgy Inv 3 GpA · 2022-11-25
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2830) – GM Conrad Holt (2540) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 23rd Apr Late · 2024-04-23
- GM Leon Livaic (2550) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2807) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 26th Aug Late · 2025-08-26
Search all games of the French Defense: Horwitz Attack, Papa-Ticulat Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- sexypookie (2664) – FM Attila76 (2626) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- lelgamer (2616) – TheEssssjuuus (2622) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- FM TrispiosReturns (2518) – MothToTheFlame (2642) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Horwitz Attack 1. e4 e6 2. b3
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.