French Defense: Perseus Gambit
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nf3
The French Defense: Perseus Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C00, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nf3. 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 1,172 times by this move order. White won 44%, 3% were drawn and Black won 53%. The most popular continuation is 3… dxe4 (53% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.89 (Stockfish, depth 57; best line 3… dxe4 4. Ne5 Nd7 5. Nc3 Nxe5 6. dxe5)
- ECO
- C00
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/4p3/3p4/3PP3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 1 3- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nf3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 623 | |
| 1500-1999 | 491 | |
| 2000+ | 58 | |
| All | 1,172 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… dxe4 | 622 (53%) | |
| 3… c5 | 313 (27%) | |
| 3… Nf6 | 135 (12%) | |
| 3… Nc6 | 31 (3%) | |
| 3… c6 | 13 (1%) | |
| 3… Ne7 | 9 (1%) | |
| 3… a6 | 8 (1%) | |
| 3… Bd7 | 8 (1%) |
Master games
6 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 67%, draw 0%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM M. Amin Tabatabaei (2629) – GM Andrey Rychagov (2545) 1-0 · PNWCC Bullet (1+1) 2020 · 2020-08-09
- GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2603) – IM Milosz Szpar (2477) 1-0 · Titled Tue 29th Oct Late · 2024-10-29
- GM Gadir Guseinov (2654) – IM Rolando Alarcon Casellas (2389) 1-0 · 44th Sitges Open 2018 · 2018-07-28
- Stefan Mitrovic (1506) – Mirkovic, R. (1674) 0-1 · XXX Belgrade Trophy · 2016-11-27
- Miroslaw Sobczak (1804) – Michal Swiatek (1254) 1-0 · 24th Poznan Open 2016 · 2016-08-08
Search all games of the French Defense: Perseus Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- gklo888 (2504) – Rudi128 (2341) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 600 + 0s
- yvuyguyuf89 (2364) – Grandstodge (2454) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- ALEXSADERISPUSHKINO (2361) – shaxMSTAtist (2423) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense (2. d4 d5) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5
Continuations
- French Defense: Carlson Gambit C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nf3 dxe4 4. Ne5
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: 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
- French Defense: Franco-Sicilian Defense 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.