French Defense (1. e4 e6)
1. e4 e6
The French Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C00, reached after 1. e4 e6. White is to move. 12 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 742,960 times by this move order. White won 48%, 5% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 2. d4 (46% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.22 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7)
- ECO
- C00
- Moves
- 2 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/4p3/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. e4 e6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 256,354 | |
| 1500-1999 | 390,273 | |
| 2000+ | 96,333 | |
| All | 742,960 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2. d4 Normal Variation | 339,111 (46%) | |
| 2. Nf3 Knight Variation | 207,396 (28%) | |
| 2. Nc3 Queen's Knight | 44,755 (6%) | |
| 2. Bc4 | 35,283 (5%) | |
| 2. f4 La Bourdonnais Variation | 31,910 (4%) | |
| 2. d3 King's Indian Attack | 21,141 (3%) | |
| 2. e5 Steinitz Attack | 19,910 (3%) | |
| 2. c4 Steiner Variation | 11,897 (2%) |
Master games
430 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 31%, draw 15%, Black 54%). The strongest:
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2777) – GM Levon Aronian (2767) 0-1 · chess.com Speed 1m+1spm 2018 · 2018-12-01
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2777) – GM Levon Aronian (2767) 0-1 · chess.com Speed 1m+1spm 2018 · 2018-12-01
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2777) – GM Levon Aronian (2767) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 1m+1spm 2018 · 2018-12-01
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) – GM So, W. (2772) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 2021 · 2021-12-19
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2756) 1-0 · Meltwater Tour Final 2021 · 2021-10-04
Search all games of the French Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Sunrise34 (2863) – GM cutemouse83 (2964) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- GM aspiringstar (2982) – GM sillyMASTER (2829) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- FM Squoznyak (2873) – FM Guary1 (2907) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Pawn Game (1. e4) 1. e4
Continuations
- French Defense: Banzai-Leong Gambit C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. b4
- French Defense: Bird Invitation C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. Bb5
- French Defense: Chigorin Variation C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. Qe2
- French Defense: Horwitz Attack C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. b3
- French Defense: King's Indian Attack C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. d3
- French Defense: Knight Variation C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. Nf3
- French Defense: La Bourdonnais Variation C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. f4
- French Defense: Normal Variation C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4
- French Defense: Queen's Knight C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. Nc3
- French Defense: Réti-Spielmann Attack C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. g3
- French Defense: Steiner Variation C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. c4
- French Defense: Steinitz Attack C00 · 1. e4 e6 2. e5
More French Defense lines (all)
- French Defense (2. d4 d5) C00
- French Defense: Alapin Gambit C00
- French Defense: Baeuerle Gambit C00
- French Defense: Banzai-Leong Gambit, Pinova Gambit C00
- French Defense: Carlson Gambit C00
- French Defense: Diemer-Duhm Gambit C00
- French Defense: Diemer-Duhm Gambit Accepted C00
- French Defense: Franco-Hiva Gambit C00
- French Defense: Franco-Hiva Gambit Accepted C00
- French Defense: Franco-Sicilian Defense C00
- French Defense: Hoffmann Gambit C00
- French Defense: Horwitz Attack, Papa-Ticulat 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.