French Defense: La Bourdonnais Variation
1. e4 e6 2. f4
The French Defense: La Bourdonnais Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C00, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. f4. 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 31,910 times by this move order. White won 49%, 3% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 2… d5 (64% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.16 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 2… d5 3. Nc3 d4 4. Nce2 c5 5. d3)
- ECO
- C00
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/4p3/8/4PP2/8/PPPP2PP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. f4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 7,254 | |
| 1500-1999 | 21,751 | |
| 2000+ | 2,905 | |
| All | 31,910 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… d5 | 20,414 (64%) | |
| 2… c5 | 2,115 (7%) | |
| 2… b6 | 1,749 (5%) | |
| 2… c6 | 1,627 (5%) | |
| 2… d6 | 1,455 (5%) | |
| 2… Nf6 | 533 (2%) | |
| 2… Ne7 | 518 (2%) | |
| 2… Nc6 | 501 (2%) |
Master games
744 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 18%, Black 42%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2875) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2775) 1-0 · 7th Norway Blitz 2019 · 2019-06-03
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2882) – GM Richard Rapport (2747) 1-0 · Saint Louis Blitz 2019 · 2019-08-13
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2816) – GM Levon Aronian (2722) 1-0 · Titled Tue 7th Oct 2025 · 2025-10-07
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2758) 1-0 · World Blitz 2019 · 2019-12-30
- GM Yangyi Yu (2763) – GM Nikita Vitiugov (2732) 1-0 · FIDE World Cup 2019 · 2019-09-25
Search all games of the French Defense: La Bourdonnais Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM Hamisandwich (2607) – Lightlike (2568) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Moreno_Tejera (2561) – Bitcoinchef3 (2583) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- GM Hamisandwich (2625) – HarryPotter_el_mejor (2507) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense (1. e4 e6) 1. e4 e6
Continuations
- French Defense: La Bourdonnais Variation, Reuter Gambit C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. f4 d5 3. Nf3 dxe4
More French Defense lines (all)
- 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
- French Defense: Franco-Hiva Gambit Accepted 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.