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
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. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 217 times by this move order. White won 48%, 7% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 6. Bb5 (77% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.28 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 6. Bb5 Bd6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Nb3 Ne7)
- ECO
- C09
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pp3ppp/2n5/2pp4/3P4/5N2/PPPN1PPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 2 6- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 exd5 5. Ngf3 Nc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 7 | |
| 1500-1999 | 74 | |
| 2000+ | 136 | |
| All | 217 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Bb5 | 168 (77%) | |
| 6. dxc5 | 25 (12%) | |
| 6. c3 | 11 (5%) | |
| 6. Be2 | 7 (3%) | |
| 6. Nb3 | 3 (1%) | |
| 6. Bd3 | 2 (1%) | |
| 6. g3 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
1,314 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 31%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2777) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) 1/2-1/2 · Bullet Chess Winners 2023 · 2023-07-19
- GM Hao Wang (2722) – GM Richard Rapport (2740) 1/2-1/2 · 8th Gashimov Mem Rapid · 2022-12-19
- GM Sergey Karjakin (2771) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2662) 1-0 · FIDE World Blitz 2014 · 2014-06-19
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2697) – GM Anton Korobov (2711) 1/2-1/2 · 11th World Teams 2017 · 2017-06-21
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2707) – GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov (2663) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-ESP Div Honor 2017 · 2017-08-18
Highest-rated Lichess games
- gmpawel (2788) – Americanchampion (2845) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- CM Sultai (2701) – Americanchampion (2834) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- FM Vladislav89 (2565) – Americanchampion (2706) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Open System (4. exd5 exd5) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 exd5
Continuations
- French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Open System, Main Line (8… Ne7 9. c3) C09 · 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
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.