French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Eliskases Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. Ngf3 cxd4 6. Bc4 Qd8
The French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Eliskases Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C07, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. Ngf3 cxd4 6. Bc4 Qd8. 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 79 times by this move order. White won 58%, 7% were drawn and Black won 35%. The most popular continuation is 7. O-O (77% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.17 (Stockfish, depth 57; best line 7. O-O a6 8. Qe2 Nf6 9. Rd1 Qc7)
- ECO
- C07
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp3ppp/4p3/8/2Bp4/5N2/PPPN1PPP/R1BQK2R w KQkq - 2 7- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. Ngf3 cxd4 6. Bc4 Qd8
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 32 | |
| 2000+ | 46 | |
| All | 79 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. O-O | 61 (77%) | |
| 7. Nb3 | 15 (19%) | |
| 7. Qe2 | 2 (3%) | |
| 7. Ne4 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
467 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 36%, draw 37%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- GM Rauf Mamedov (2709) – GM Quang Liem Le (2737) 1-0 · 2nd IMSA Blitz 2017 · 2017-12-12
- GM Yi Wei (2736) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2679) 1-0 · chess.com Junior Speed · 2019-08-10
- GM Michael Adams (2701) – GM Borki Predojevic (2630) 1/2-1/2 · Bundesliga TB 2017-18 · 2018-05-24
- GM Gawain C B Maroroa Jones (2645) – GM Aleksandr Shimanov (2655) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Cup 2013 · 2013-08-12
- GM A.R. Saleh Salem (2660) – GM Aleksey Goganov (2612) 1-0 · World Rapid 2018 · 2018-12-28
Highest-rated Lichess games
- TregubenkoKolya_2010 (2614) – Mokaboka (2502) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- bombokobombo123456 (2594) – Mokaboka (2504) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- StrangerAM (2518) – Mokaboka (2480) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Chistyakov Defense 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 Qxd5
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.