French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Open System, Main Line (8… Ne7 9. c3)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 exd5 5. Ngf3 Nc6 6. Bb5 Bd6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. O-O Ne7 9. c3
The French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Open System, Main Line is a chess opening classified as ECO C09, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 exd5 5. Ngf3 Nc6 6. Bb5 Bd6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. O-O Ne7 9. c3. It is a line of the French Defense. Black 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 0%, 100% were drawn and Black won 0%. The most popular continuation is 9… O-O (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.24 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 9… Bd6 10. Re1 O-O 11. h3 Re8 12. Nf1)
- ECO
- C09
- Moves
- 17 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pp2nppp/2n5/1Bbp4/8/2P2N2/PP1N1PPP/R1BQ1RK1 b kq - 0 9- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 exd5 5. Ngf3 Nc6 6. Bb5 Bd6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. O-O Ne7 9. c3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 1 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9… O-O | 1 (100%) |
Master games
4 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 0%, draw 25%, Black 75%). The strongest:
- GM Yahli Sokolovsky (2559) – GM Igor Kovalenko (2685) 1/2-1/2 · 26th ch-EUR Indiv 2026 · 2026-04-19
- FM Jakub Kusa (2336) – FM Jung Min Seo (2453) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 30th Mar · 2021-03-30
- CM David Cr. Radu (2164) – FM Ege Tuna Oktem (2310) 0-1 · Romania GP Brasov 2025 · 2025-07-27
- Michael Zheng (2050) – GM Avigdor Bykhovsky (2405) 0-1 · PNWCC Online Blitz JP 16 · 2020-07-11
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Y_Batman_Y (2090) – Raznitsyn (2095) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Open System, Main Line (5. Ngf3 Nc6) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 exd5 5. Ngf3 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.