French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Pawn Center Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4
The French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Pawn Center Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C05, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4. 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 1,108 times by this move order. White won 51%, 5% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 5… c5 (91% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.63 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 5… c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ndf3 Qb6 8. a3)
- ECO
- C05
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppn1ppp/4p3/3pP3/3P1P2/8/PPPN2PP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 11 | |
| 1500-1999 | 480 | |
| 2000+ | 617 | |
| All | 1,108 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… c5 | 1,007 (91%) | |
| 5… a6 | 23 (2%) | |
| 5… Be7 | 21 (2%) | |
| 5… g6 | 20 (2%) | |
| 5… f5 | 10 (1%) | |
| 5… b6 | 9 (1%) | |
| 5… Qh4+ | 7 (1%) | |
| 5… Nc5 | 3 (0%) |
Master games
1,771 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 54%, draw 17%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) – Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-04-15
- Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-04-15
- LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) – Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-23
- Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) – LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-23
- LCZero 0.31-dag-f7fb268-BT4-61 (3652) – Stockfish dev-20241208-cf10644 (3683) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Superfinal 2024 · 2024-12-27
Highest-rated Lichess games
- PyPsIk2012 (2725) – IM J_Oneee (2713) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Coach13 (2788) – FM Attila76 (2632) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- jaymseuzs (2572) – GM AtalikS (2640) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Closed Variation (3. Nd2 Nf6) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 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.