French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Open System (3. Nd2 c5)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5
The French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Open System is a chess opening classified as ECO C07, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move. 5 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 5,806 times by this move order. White won 49%, 6% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 4. exd5 (35% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.17 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 4. Ngf3 cxd4 5. exd5 Qxd5 6. Bc4 Qd6)
- ECO
- C07
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp3ppp/4p3/2pp4/3PP3/8/PPPN1PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 376 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,793 | |
| 2000+ | 2,637 | |
| All | 5,806 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. exd5 | 2,015 (35%) | |
| 4. Ngf3 Tarrasch Variation, Open System, Euwe-Keres Line | 1,778 (31%) | |
| 4. c3 Tarrasch Variation, Open System, Süchting Line | 1,559 (27%) | |
| 4. dxc5 | 276 (5%) | |
| 4. Bb5+ | 95 (2%) | |
| 4. e5 | 28 (0%) | |
| 4. Ne2 | 23 (0%) | |
| 4. c4 | 17 (0%) |
Master games
401 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 19%, Black 42%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2729) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802) 0-1 · Saint Louis Blitz 2024 · 2024-08-15
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2768) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2745) 1-0 · World Blitz 2022 · 2022-12-30
- GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2685) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2737) 0-1 · Bullet Chess Winners 2024 · 2024-06-10
- GM Levon Aronian (2747) – GM Matthias Bluebaum (2650) 1/2-1/2 · World Rapid 2024 · 2024-12-27
- GM Dmitry Andreikin (2710) – GM Aleksandr Shimanov (2578) 0-1 · World Rapid 2025 · 2025-12-27
Search all games of the French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Open System and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Johnizard (2725) – GM cutemouse83 (2952) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Johnizard (2720) – GM cutemouse83 (2957) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- gmpawel (2788) – Americanchampion (2845) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Tarrasch Variation 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2
Continuations
- French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Open System, Euwe-Keres Line C07 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Ngf3
- French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Open System, Süchting Line C07 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. c3
- French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Chistyakov Defense C07 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 Qxd5
- French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Open System (4. exd5 exd5) C08 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 exd5
- French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Open System, Shaposhnikov Gambit C07 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 Nf6
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.