French Defense: Paulsen Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3
The French Defense: Paulsen Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C10, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3. 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 49,084 times by this move order. White won 50%, 5% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 3… Nf6 (35% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.28 (Stockfish, depth 61; best line 3… dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Be3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+)
- ECO
- C10
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/4p3/3p4/3PP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 1 3- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 7,507 | |
| 1500-1999 | 24,039 | |
| 2000+ | 17,538 | |
| All | 49,084 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Nf6 Classical Variation (3. Nc3 Nf6) | 17,181 (35%) | |
| 3… Bb4 Winawer Variation | 11,231 (23%) | |
| 3… dxe4 Rubinstein Variation | 10,921 (22%) | |
| 3… c5 Marshall Gambit | 6,155 (13%) | |
| 3… c6 | 1,230 (3%) | |
| 3… Nc6 Hecht-Reefschläger Variation | 767 (2%) | |
| 3… a6 | 446 (1%) | |
| 3… Ne7 | 255 (1%) |
Master games
1,273 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 23%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- Stockfish 20210113 (3601) – LCZero 0.27.0d-Tilps-dje-magic_JH.94-100 (3586) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Superfinal 2020 · 2021-01-20
- LCZero 0.27.0d-Tilps-dje-magic_JH.94-100 (3586) – Stockfish 20210113 (3601) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Superfinal 2020 · 2021-01-20
- GM Anish Giri (2745) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2830) 0-1 · Titled Tue 18th Jun Early · 2024-06-18
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2733) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) 0-1 · Titled Tue 13th Aug Late · 2024-08-13
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2777) – GM Praggnanandhaa R (2767) 1/2-1/2 · SuperUnited CRO Rapid 2025 · 2025-07-03
Search all games of the French Defense: Paulsen Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- tsunami10 (2807) – GM cutemouse83 (2970) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- puziko52 (2854) – FM Guary1 (2884) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- kuhmft (2852) – Americanchampion (2856) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense (2. d4 d5) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5
Continuations
- French Defense: Classical Variation (3. Nc3 Nf6) C11 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6
- French Defense: Hecht-Reefschläger Variation C10 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nc6
- French Defense: Marshall Gambit C10 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 c5
- French Defense: Rubinstein Variation C10 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4
- French Defense: Winawer Variation C15 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4
- French Defense: Steinitz Variation (5. e5 Nfd7) C11 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 a6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7
More French Defense lines (all)
- French Defense (1. e4 e6) 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.