French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Modern System
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 a6
The French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Modern System is a chess opening classified as ECO C03, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 a6. 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 421 times by this move order. White won 42%, 9% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 4. Ngf3 (44% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.32 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4. Bd3 c5 5. dxc5 Bxc5 6. Ngf3 Nf6)
- ECO
- C03
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/1pp2ppp/p3p3/3p4/3PP3/8/PPPN1PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 a6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 12 | |
| 1500-1999 | 141 | |
| 2000+ | 268 | |
| All | 421 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Ngf3 | 186 (44%) | |
| 4. Bd3 | 91 (22%) | |
| 4. c3 | 70 (17%) | |
| 4. e5 | 42 (10%) | |
| 4. exd5 | 11 (3%) | |
| 4. c4 | 9 (2%) | |
| 4. f4 | 4 (1%) | |
| 4. a3 | 3 (1%) |
Master games
1,855 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 34%, draw 29%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-e429eeb-BT3-2790000 (3642) – Stockfish dev-20231010-00263636 (3673) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-10-12
- Stockfish dev-20231010-00263636 (3673) – LCZero 0.31-dag-e429eeb-BT3-2790000 (3642) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-10-12
- KomodoDragon2747.00 (3582) – Stockfish2021061923 (3632) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 21 Premier 2021 · 2021-07-04
- Stockfish2021061923 (3632) – KomodoDragon2747.00 (3582) 1-0 · TCEC 21 Premier 2021 · 2021-07-01
- KomodoDragon 2885.00 (3590) – ScorpioNN 3.0.15.5 (3514) 1-0 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-12
Search all games of the French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Modern System and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- hadishahod (2794) – MIGV (2602) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- nalkwsfa (2711) – MIGV (2612) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- KhatanbaatarGM (2709) – MIGV (2608) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Tarrasch Variation 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2
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.