French Defense: Orthoschnapp Gambit
1. e4 e6 2. c4 d5 3. cxd5 exd5 4. Qb3
The French Defense: Orthoschnapp Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C00, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. c4 d5 3. cxd5 exd5 4. Qb3. 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 747 times by this move order. White won 54%, 5% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 4… dxe4 (57% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.98 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 4… dxe4 5. Bc4 Qe7 6. Ne2 Nd7 7. O-O)
- ECO
- C00
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/8/3p4/4P3/1Q6/PP1P1PPP/RNB1KBNR b KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. c4 d5 3. cxd5 exd5 4. Qb3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 30 | |
| 1500-1999 | 452 | |
| 2000+ | 265 | |
| All | 747 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… dxe4 | 425 (57%) | |
| 4… Nf6 | 160 (21%) | |
| 4… c6 | 97 (13%) | |
| 4… Be6 | 26 (3%) | |
| 4… d4 | 12 (2%) | |
| 4… Ne7 | 7 (1%) | |
| 4… Qe7 | 5 (1%) | |
| 4… Bd6 | 4 (1%) |
Master games
235 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 58%, draw 8%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Baadur Jobava (2603) – GM Matthias Bluebaum (2674) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 10th Aug · 2021-08-10
- GM Kirill Shevchenko (2599) – GM Parham Maghsoodloo (2676) 0-1 · Cappelle Online Bullet · 2021-03-05
- GM Thomas Beerdsen (2511) – GM Dmitry Andreikin (2729) 0-1 · Titled Tue 26th Sep Late · 2023-09-26
- GM Thomas Beerdsen (2535) – GM Matthias Bluebaum (2660) 0-1 · Titled Tue 13th May Late · 2025-05-13
- GM Kirill Shevchenko (2605) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2567) 0-1 · chess.com Junior Speed · 2021-07-05
Search all games of the French Defense: Orthoschnapp Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- parciful (2520) – chaaa116 (2667) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- VladChennel (2480) – IM xurramid77 (2572) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Oleg_Chess14 (2498) – Fimading (2516) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
French Defense: Steiner Variation 1. e4 e6 2. c4
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.