French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Ellis Gambit
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 e5
The French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Ellis Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C10, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 e5. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 56 times by this move order. White won 61%, 1% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 5. Nf3 (54% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.36 (Stockfish, depth 30; best line 5. Nf3 Qd5 6. Bd3 Bg4 7. O-O Nc6)
- ECO
- C10
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/8/4p3/3PN3/8/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 e5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 36 | |
| 1500-1999 | 15 | |
| 2000+ | 5 | |
| All | 56 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Nf3 | 30 (54%) | |
| 5. dxe5 | 8 (14%) | |
| 5. d5 | 7 (13%) | |
| 5. c3 | 5 (9%) | |
| 5. Be3 | 3 (5%) | |
| 5. Bd3 | 1 (2%) | |
| 5. Qf3 | 1 (2%) | |
| 5. Nc5 | 1 (2%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Kisyam (2343) – Herijagocatur (2216) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 300 + 0s
- Afqan-AZE (2217) – Herijagocatur (2206) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 300 + 0s
- bluejeans769 (2219) – beginnertogame (2183) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 600 + 5s
Comes from
French Defense: Rubinstein Variation 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4
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.