French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Morozevich Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Be7
The French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Morozevich Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C03, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Be7. 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 483 times by this move order. White won 47%, 6% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 4. Ngf3 (42% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.37 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. Bd3 c5 6. e5 Nfd7)
- ECO
- C03
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1nr/ppp1bppp/4p3/3p4/3PP3/8/PPPN1PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 2 4- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Be7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 87 | |
| 2000+ | 394 | |
| All | 483 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Ngf3 | 204 (42%) | |
| 4. Bd3 | 106 (22%) | |
| 4. e5 | 85 (18%) | |
| 4. c3 | 67 (14%) | |
| 4. exd5 | 6 (1%) | |
| 4. f4 | 5 (1%) | |
| 4. c4 | 4 (1%) | |
| 4. Be2 | 2 (0%) |
Master games
5,160 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 24%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- Obsidian dev-16.15 (3714) – LCZero 0.33-dev-f6ec55c-BT4-6147500-it332 (3749) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-05
- LCZero 0.33-dev-f6ec55c-BT4-6147500-it332 (3749) – Obsidian dev-16.15 (3714) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-03
- Igel3.0.5 (3512) – KomodoDragon2747.00 (3582) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 21 Premier 2021 · 2021-07-08
- KomodoDragon2747.00 (3582) – Igel3.0.5 (3512) 1-0 · TCEC 21 Premier 2021 · 2021-07-06
- GM Sergey Karjakin (2779) – GM Veselin Topalov (2752) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz Final · 2012-07-10
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Meatloaf927 (2697) – IM AngelitoRT (2876) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- IM liczner (2745) – FM enclasesUNI (2622) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- BulletMastertdFR (2662) – RisingKnight389 (2697) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 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.