French Defense: Rubinstein Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4
The French Defense: Rubinstein Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C10, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 10,921 times by this move order. White won 50%, 6% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 4. Nxe4 (95% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.29 (Stockfish, depth 59; best line 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Be3 Ndf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6)
- ECO
- C10
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/4p3/8/3Pp3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,524 | |
| 1500-1999 | 5,921 | |
| 2000+ | 3,476 | |
| All | 10,921 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Nxe4 | 10,420 (95%) | |
| 4. f3 | 362 (3%) | |
| 4. Bc4 | 36 (0%) | |
| 4. Bf4 | 28 (0%) | |
| 4. Be3 | 25 (0%) | |
| 4. d5 | 17 (0%) | |
| 4. Bb5+ | 6 (0%) | |
| 4. a3 | 5 (0%) |
Master games
1,239 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 55%, draw 17%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) – Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-23
- Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) – LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-23
- GM Anish Giri (2764) – GM Teimour Radjabov (2747) 0-1 · CGC KO 2022 · 2022-11-03
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2782) – GM Richard Rapport (2691) 1-0 · 76th Tata Steel Masters · 2014-01-21
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2750) – GM Richard Rapport (2698) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 1m+1spm 2017 · 2017-08-03
Search all games of the French Defense: Rubinstein Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- tsunami10 (2807) – GM cutemouse83 (2970) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- BoneCrusher2020 (2729) – GM cutemouse83 (2957) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Kruciatos (2730) – GM athena-pallada (2880) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Paulsen Variation 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3
Continuations
- French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Blackburne Defense C10 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7
- French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Ellis Gambit C10 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 e5
- French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Maric Variation C10 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Qd5
- French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Fort Knox Variation C10 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bd7 5. Nf3 Bc6
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.