French Defense: St. George Defense
1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6
The French Defense: St. George Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C00, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 3,451 times by this move order. White won 50%, 4% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 3. Nf3 (34% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.47 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. exd5 exd5)
- ECO
- C00
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/1ppp1ppp/p3p3/8/3PP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,347 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,812 | |
| 2000+ | 292 | |
| All | 3,451 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Nf3 | 1,176 (34%) | |
| 3. c4 St. George Defense, Three Pawn Attack | 643 (19%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 510 (15%) | |
| 3. e5 | 243 (7%) | |
| 3. Bd3 | 204 (6%) | |
| 3. f4 | 196 (6%) | |
| 3. d5 | 111 (3%) | |
| 3. Bc4 | 87 (3%) |
Master games
327 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 14%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- Fire 8_beta (3729) – rofChade 2.303 (3661) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-05-31
- rofChade 2.303 (3661) – Fire 8_beta (3729) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-05-28
- GM Sanan Sjugirov (2712) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2853) 0-1 · Titled Tue 9th May Early · 2023-05-09
- GM Sergei Rublevsky (2702) – GM Peter Heine Nielsen (2654) 1-0 · World Blitz 2015 · 2015-10-13
- GM Jeffery Xiong (2656) – GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2604) 1-0 · 3rd 3-0 Thu 10th Sep 2026 · 2026-09-10
Search all games of the French Defense: St. George Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM aspiringstar (2982) – GM sillyMASTER (2829) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- 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
Comes from
French Defense: Normal Variation 1. e4 e6 2. d4
Continuations
- French Defense: St. George Defense, Three Pawn Attack C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6 3. c4
- French Defense: St. George Defense, Traditional Line C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6 3. Nf3 b5 4. Bd3 c5 5. c3 Bb7 6. O-O Nf6
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.