Nimzowitsch Defense: French Connection
1. e4 Nc6 2. Nc3 e6
The Nimzowitsch Defense: French Connection is a chess opening classified as ECO B00, reached after 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nc3 e6. It is a line of the Nimzowitsch Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,080 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 3. Nf3 (41% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.56 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 3. d4 d5 4. e5 Bd7 5. Nf3 f6)
- ECO
- B00
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/2n1p3/8/4P3/2N5/PPPP1PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 Nc6 2. Nc3 e6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 492 | |
| 1500-1999 | 467 | |
| 2000+ | 121 | |
| All | 1,080 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Nf3 | 442 (41%) | |
| 3. d4 | 192 (18%) | |
| 3. Bc4 | 137 (13%) | |
| 3. f4 | 108 (10%) | |
| 3. Bb5 | 67 (6%) | |
| 3. d3 | 53 (5%) | |
| 3. g3 | 36 (3%) | |
| 3. a3 | 19 (2%) |
Master games
184 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 19%, Black 39%). The strongest:
- IM Viacheslav Tilicheev (2518) – GM Christian Bauer (2639) 1-0 · El Ksiba Open 2019 · 2019-04-10
- GM Vasif Durarbayli (2635) – IM Jan Subelj (2496) 0-1 · Titled Tue 28th Mar Early · 2023-03-28
- IM Pierre Bailet (2477) – GM Christian Bauer (2647) 1-0 · 1st Cappelle Rapid 2019 · 2019-02-23
- IM Hovhanisian, M. (2499) – GM Christian Bauer (2623) 0-1 · World Blitz 2015 · 2015-10-13
- GM Aleksandra Goryachkina (2557) – GM Jose Carlos Ibarra Jerez (2563) 0-1 · Titled Tue 27th Jun Early · 2023-06-27
Search all games of the Nimzowitsch Defense: French Connection and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Pblu35 (2665) – Brillant_Sacriffice (2519) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Jumbitochess24 (2493) – great_nezhmetdinov2 (2528) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- FM Dralegre (2421) – schobbejak123 (2445) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzowitsch Defense (1. e4 Nc6) 1. e4 Nc6
More Nimzowitsch Defense lines (all)
- Nimzowitsch Defense (1… Nc6 2. d4) B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Breyer Variation B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Colorado Countergambit B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Colorado Countergambit Accepted B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Declined Variation B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: El Columpio Defense B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: El Columpio Defense, El Columpio Gambit B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: El Columpio Defense, Exchange Variation B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: El Columpio Defense, Pin Variation B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Franco-Nimzowitsch Variation B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Hornung Gambit B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Kennedy Variation B00
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.