French Defense: St. George Defense, Three Pawn Attack
1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6 3. c4
The French Defense: St. George Defense, Three Pawn Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C00, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6 3. c4. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 643 times by this move order. White won 51%, 2% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 3… h6 (20% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.23 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 3… d5 4. exd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Bb4+ 6. Nc3)
- ECO
- C00
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/1ppp1ppp/p3p3/8/2PPP3/8/PP3PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6 3. c4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 175 | |
| 1500-1999 | 399 | |
| 2000+ | 69 | |
| All | 643 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… h6 | 129 (20%) | |
| 3… b5 St. George Defense, Sanky-George Gambit | 117 (18%) | |
| 3… d5 | 86 (13%) | |
| 3… b6 | 70 (11%) | |
| 3… c5 | 64 (10%) | |
| 3… c6 | 61 (9%) | |
| 3… d6 | 28 (4%) | |
| 3… Nf6 | 21 (3%) |
Master games
63 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 12%, Black 44%). The strongest:
- IM Benny Aizenberg (2395) – IM Bojan Maksimovic (2497) 1-0 · European Blitz 2023 · 2023-12-16
- GM Ihor Samunenkov (2550) – FM Mathieu Ternault (2294) 1-0 · Titled Tue 25th Feb Early · 2025-02-25
- WIM Alicja Sliwicka (2289) – GM Szymon Gumularz (2539) 0-1 · European Rapid 2021 · 2021-12-18
- GM Gata Kamsky (2613) – CM Fernan Rioseco Pinochet (2139) 1-0 · Titled Tue 18th Jun Late · 2024-06-18
- FM Juan Antonio Urbina Perez (2243) – IM Bojan Maksimovic (2497) 0-1 · Titled Tue 19th Mar Early · 2024-03-19
Search all games of the French Defense: St. George Defense, Three Pawn Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM Tuzakli_Egitim (2904) – GM sillyMASTER (2845) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- IM AngelitoRT (2896) – GM sillyMASTER (2848) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Sobino106 (2771) – GM sillyMASTER (2872) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: St. George Defense 1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6
Continuations
- French Defense: St. George Defense, Sanky-George Gambit C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6 3. c4 b5
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.