French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Botvinnik Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 b6
The French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Botvinnik Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C05, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 b6. 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 42 times by this move order. White won 43%, 5% were drawn and Black won 52%. The most popular continuation is 7. Ne2 (62% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.08 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 7. Ne2 Ba6 8. Bxa6 Nxa6 9. Nf3 b5)
- ECO
- C05
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/p2n1ppp/1p2p3/2ppP3/3P4/2PB4/PP1N1PPP/R1BQK1NR w KQkq - 0 7- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 b6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 15 | |
| 2000+ | 27 | |
| All | 42 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Ne2 | 26 (62%) | |
| 7. Qe2 | 5 (12%) | |
| 7. f4 | 5 (12%) | |
| 7. Ngf3 | 4 (10%) | |
| 7. Qa4 | 2 (5%) |
Master games
331 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 35%, draw 28%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- KomodoDragon3.3 (3592) – StoofvleesII d2 (3479) 1-0 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-04-29
- StoofvleesII d2 (3479) – KomodoDragon3.3 (3592) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-04-27
- StoofvleesII a18 (3532) – Ethereal13.07_NNUE-15EE (3497) 1-0 · TCEC 21 Premier 2021 · 2021-07-04
- Ethereal13.07_NNUE-15EE (3497) – StoofvleesII a18 (3532) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 21 Premier 2021 · 2021-07-01
- GM Ivan Cheparinov (2715) – GM Josep Manuel Lopez Martinez (2581) 1/2-1/2 · 43rd Olympiad 2018 · 2018-10-05
Highest-rated Lichess games
- SHEFFFF (2522) – IM nocnypako (2679) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- mokhtarzenaidi23 (2361) – Yuretz (2478) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- noahjb (2389) – Ptiphantom (2389) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Closed Variation (3. Nd2 Nf6) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 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.