French Defense: Pelikan Variation
1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. f4
The French Defense: Pelikan Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C00, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. f4. 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 593 times by this move order. White won 47%, 5% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 3… d4 (28% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.17 (Stockfish, depth 49; best line 3… dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ Qxf6 6. Nf3)
- ECO
- C00
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/4p3/3p4/4PP2/2N5/PPPP2PP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. f4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 126 | |
| 1500-1999 | 300 | |
| 2000+ | 167 | |
| All | 593 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… d4 | 168 (28%) | |
| 3… dxe4 | 166 (28%) | |
| 3… Nf6 | 111 (19%) | |
| 3… c5 | 84 (14%) | |
| 3… Bb4 | 18 (3%) | |
| 3… c6 | 12 (2%) | |
| 3… Nc6 | 9 (2%) | |
| 3… f5 | 5 (1%) |
Master games
22 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 32%, draw 9%, Black 59%). The strongest:
- GM Maciej Klekowski (2463) – FM Alexandros Papasimakopoulos (2375) 1-0 · Titled Tue 23rd Jul Early · 2024-07-23
- IM Roderick Nava (2381) – IM Jesus Garrido Dominguez (2396) 0-1 · Titled Tue 2nd Apr Early · 2024-04-02
- IM Justin Sarkar (2338) – FM Sergei Ljukin (2362) 0-1 · Titled Tue 21st Mar Early · 2023-03-21
- FM Sanchez Jerez, E. (2217) – IM Javier Moreno Ruiz (2459) 0-1 · 23rd Montcada Open 2015 · 2015-06-25
- FM Thet Naung (2270) – IM Licael Roderick Ticona Rocabado (2338) 0-1 · Titled Tue 9th Jul Early · 2024-07-09
Search all games of the French Defense: Pelikan Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- mikmikci (2559) – MothToTheFlame (2638) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Eilia47 (2462) – BennyAroeta (2453) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Callsol (2353) – yopchess (2507) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Queen's Knight 1. e4 e6 2. Nc3
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.