French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Guimard Defense, Thunderbunny Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nc6 4. c3 dxe4 5. Nxe4 e5
The French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Guimard Defense, Thunderbunny Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C03, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nc6 4. c3 dxe4 5. Nxe4 e5. 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 1 times by this move order. White won 100%, 0% were drawn and Black won 0%. The most popular continuation is 6. Nf3 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.23 (Stockfish, depth 56; best line 6. d5 Nce7 7. Nf3 Qxd5 8. Qxd5 Nxd5)
- ECO
- C03
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/ppp2ppp/2n5/4p3/3PN3/2P5/PP3PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nc6 4. c3 dxe4 5. Nxe4 e5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| All | 1 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Nf3 | 1 (100%) |
Master games
3 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 0%, Black 67%). The strongest:
- Kirill Volotovsky (2022) – FM Pen, L. (2216) 0-1 · ch-UKR Boys U20 2017 · 2017-02-28
- Mathias Kardell (1998) – Andreas Backman (2177) 1-0 · Deltalift Open 2015 · 2015-05-16
- Maria Pirvan (1628) – WFM Aliaksandra Tarasenka (2061) 0-1 · 21st ch-EUR Indiv w 2021 · 2021-08-11
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Magucho (1798) – Alehan (1811) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Guimard Defense 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nc6
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.