French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Maric Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Qd5
The French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Maric Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C10, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Qd5. 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 57 times by this move order. White won 49%, 9% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 5. Nc3 (39% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.10 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 5. Bd3 Nf6 6. Nxf6+ gxf6 7. Nf3 Nc6)
- ECO
- C10
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnb1kbnr/ppp2ppp/4p3/3q4/3PN3/8/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Qd5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 32 | |
| 1500-1999 | 24 | |
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 57 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Nc3 | 22 (39%) | |
| 5. Bd3 | 13 (23%) | |
| 5. f3 | 8 (14%) | |
| 5. Qd3 | 7 (12%) | |
| 5. Qf3 | 3 (5%) | |
| 5. Ng3 | 2 (4%) | |
| 5. c3 | 1 (2%) | |
| 5. Nf3 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
26 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 54%, draw 19%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- IM Thomas R J Hinks-Edwards (2370) – FM Miloslav Netusil (2290) 1-0 · TCh-CZE 1 Liga Zapad · 2014-12-07
- IM Marius Fromm (2445) – Khaled Akhras (2213) 1-0 · GRENKE Chess Open 2024 · 2024-03-29
- FM Marc Sanchez Ibern (2332) – FM Josue Exposito Amaro (2287) 1-0 · 4th Sant Marti IM · 2012-11-17
- Jindrich Kuba (2327) – FM Miloslav Netusil (2290) 1-0 · TCh-CZE 1 Liga Zapad · 2015-02-15
- IM Carlos Antonio Hevia Alejano (2520) – Luis Carlos Paz Valera (2091) 1-0 · Marcel Sisniega Mem 2014 · 2014-04-29
Search all games of the French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Maric Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GiordanoColli (2010) – Xtrapec (2006) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 1800 + 0s
- obsecionlancera (1959) – AerminChess (1860) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 300 + 3s
- nagape (1828) – Theodoro_Fuentes (1811) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
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.