French Defense: Normal Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4
The French Defense: Normal Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C00, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move. 6 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 339,111 times by this move order. White won 49%, 4% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 2… d5 (72% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.29 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 2… d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4)
- ECO
- C00
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/4p3/8/3PP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 89,491 | |
| 1500-1999 | 186,344 | |
| 2000+ | 63,276 | |
| All | 339,111 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… d5 French Defense (2. d4 d5) | 242,994 (72%) | |
| 2… c5 Franco-Sicilian Defense | 19,421 (6%) | |
| 2… b6 | 14,860 (4%) | |
| 2… d6 | 14,427 (4%) | |
| 2… c6 | 14,040 (4%) | |
| 2… Nf6 Mediterranean Defense | 5,145 (2%) | |
| 2… Ne7 | 4,535 (1%) | |
| 2… a6 St. George Defense | 3,451 (1%) |
Master games
1,585 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 53%, draw 14%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- PlentyChess 7.0.55 (3693) – Torch 20260128-7136070b (3716) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-10
- Torch 20260128-7136070b (3716) – PlentyChess 7.0.55 (3693) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-08
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2777) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) 1-0 · Bullet Chess Winners 2023 · 2023-07-19
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2819) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2791) 0-1 · chess.com SF Blitz 1m+1spm 2016 · 2016-08-24
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2787) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2793) 0-1 · Showdown Blitz 2015 · 2015-11-15
Search all games of the French Defense: Normal Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Sunrise34 (2863) – GM cutemouse83 (2964) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- GM aspiringstar (2982) – GM sillyMASTER (2829) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- FM Squoznyak (2873) – FM Guary1 (2907) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense (1. e4 e6) 1. e4 e6
Continuations
- French Defense (2. d4 d5) C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5
- French Defense: Baeuerle Gambit C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 b5
- French Defense: Franco-Hiva Gambit C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 f5
- French Defense: Franco-Sicilian Defense C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 c5
- French Defense: Mediterranean Defense C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 Nf6
- French Defense: St. George Defense C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6
More French Defense lines (all)
- French Defense: Alapin 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 Accepted C00
- French Defense: Hoffmann Gambit C00
- French Defense: Horwitz Attack C00
- French Defense: Horwitz Attack, Papa-Ticulat 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.