French Defense: Reversed Philidor Formation
1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. Ngf3 Nc6 5. Be2
The French Defense: Reversed Philidor Formation is a chess opening classified as ECO C00, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. Ngf3 Nc6 5. Be2. 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 14 times by this move order. White won 71%, 15% were drawn and Black won 14%. The most popular continuation is 5… dxe4 (29% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.01 (Stockfish, depth 39; best line 5… Bd6 6. c3 a5 7. O-O O-O 8. Re1)
- ECO
- C00
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/ppp2ppp/2n1pn2/3p4/4P3/3P1N2/PPPNBPPP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 5 5- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. Ngf3 Nc6 5. Be2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 12 | |
| All | 14 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… dxe4 | 4 (29%) | |
| 5… Bd6 | 3 (21%) | |
| 5… a5 | 3 (21%) | |
| 5… Bc5 | 3 (21%) | |
| 5… e5 | 1 (7%) |
Master games
74 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 27%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- GM Jianchao Zhou (2623) – GM Tsegmed Batchuluun (2530) 1/2-1/2 · 2nd Binhai Cup 2020 · 2020-01-16
- GM Maksim Chigaev (2641) – IM Brandon G I Clarke (2474) 1-0 · Titled Tue 9th Aug Late · 2022-08-09
- GM Tigran L. Petrosian (2651) – IM Amirreza Pourramezanali (2427) 1-0 · 3rd Al Ain Chess Classic · 2014-12-20
- WIM Anastasiya Rakhmangulova (2191) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2835) 0-1 · Titled Tue 4th Aug 10am · 2020-08-04
- GM Maksim Chigaev (2615) – IM Max Gedajlovic (2403) 0-1 · Titled Tue 26th Sep Late · 2023-09-26
Search all games of the French Defense: Reversed Philidor Formation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- sindrom_69 (2554) – GM AtalikS (2659) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- MarinovicBozo (2444) – IM FSTcoach (2539) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
- JeremyPietra (2369) – babybird1963 (2358) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: King's Indian Attack 1. e4 e6 2. d3
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.