French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Kasparov Attack
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. c3
The French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Kasparov Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C10, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. c3. 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 40 times by this move order. White won 38%, 7% were drawn and Black won 55%. The most popular continuation is 7… c5 (43% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.25 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 7… Be7 8. Bd3 c5 9. dxc5 Qc7 10. O-O)
- ECO
- C10
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/ppp2ppp/4pn2/8/3P4/2P2N2/PP3PPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 0 7- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. c3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 13 | |
| 2000+ | 26 | |
| All | 40 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… c5 | 17 (43%) | |
| 7… Be7 | 15 (38%) | |
| 7… b6 | 4 (10%) | |
| 7… Bd6 | 2 (5%) | |
| 7… Bd7 | 1 (3%) | |
| 7… c6 | 1 (3%) |
Master games
222 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 34%, Black 18%). The strongest:
- GM Narayanan S L (2618) – GM Aleksandr Lenderman (2634) 1-0 · Chess24 Banter QualD 2020 · 2020-09-08
- GM Vladislav Kovalev (2598) – GM Emilio Cordova (2655) 1/2-1/2 · Aeroflot Open A 2017 · 2017-02-27
- GM Sergei Tiviakov (2657) – GM Azer Mirzoev (2553) 1/2-1/2 · 7th Beirut Open 2014 · 2014-05-13
- GM Ivan Salgado Lopez (2622) – GM Alexander Goloshchapov (2586) 1-0 · FIDE World Blitz 2014 · 2014-06-19
- GM Cemil Can Ali Marandi (2530) – GM Illya Nyzhnyk (2676) 1/2-1/2 · US On/L Collegiate Rapid · 2021-09-25
Search all games of the French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Kasparov Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM Mescalero81 (2488) – jieltmcommeta (2564) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Neftegor (2503) – C01B01 (2546) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Neftegor (2465) – jheremiasc (2514) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Tarrasch Variation 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2
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.