French Defense
The French Defense, 1.e4 e6, builds a solid pawn chain and seeks counterplay against White's centre. With the Winawer, Tarrasch and Classical systems it is strategically rich.
555master games
2619avg. Elo
14variations
White wins %26 · draw %59 · Black wins %15
Played by: Aronian, Erigaisi, Caruana, Praggnanandhaa, Kramnik, Wei Yi, Firouzja, Sevian
Main line
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Qd2 b5 9.h4 Bb7 10.Qf2 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 Qc7 13.Bd3 Bc5 14.Ne2 f6 15.O-O O-O
Learn every line move by move on an interactive board with Stockfish 19 evaluation, model games and spaced repetition. Also: every chess tournament worldwide and 4,100+ puzzles.
Try 7 days free →Variations played by masters (14)
Steinitz Variation, Boleslavsky Variation · ECO C11 · for Black
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Qd2 b5 9.h4 Bb7 10.Qf2 cxd4 …
102 games · avg. Elo 2616 · W/D/L 32/60/10 · Model game: Niemann – Aronian, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
Steinitz Variation, Boleslavsky Variation · ECO C11 · for Black
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Qd2 b5 9.h4 Bb7 10.Qf2 cxd4 …
102 games · avg. Elo 2616 · W/D/L 32/60/10 · Model game: Niemann – Aronian, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
Advance Variation, Euwe Variation · ECO C02 · for Black
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Be2 Nge7 7.O-O Ng6 8.Be3 Be7 9.Nbd2 O-O 10.a3 cxd4 …
84 games · avg. Elo 2606 · W/D/L 23/40/21 · Model game: Kadric – Markus, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
Exchange Variation · ECO C01 · for Black
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 Bd6 6.O-O O-O 7.Bg5 Bg4 8.Nbd2 Nbd7 9.c3 c6 10.Qc2 Qc7 …
70 games · avg. Elo 2622 · W/D/L 13/48/9 · Model game: Ahmadzada – Korobov, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
Tarrasch Variation, Open System, Euwe-Keres Line · ECO C07 · for Black
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.Bb5 Bd7 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.Bd3 Bd6 9.Qe2 Qc7 10.Nf3 dxe4 …
45 games · avg. Elo 2609 · W/D/L 10/30/5 · Model game: Gurel – Martirosyan, 2024 (1-0)
Rubinstein Variation, Blackburne Defense · ECO C10 · for Black
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.Be3 Bd7 8.Bd3 Nd5 9.O-O Nxe3 10.fxe3 Bd6 …
23 games · avg. Elo 2635 · W/D/L 4/13/6 · Model game: Nakamura – Firouzja, 2026 (1/2-1/2)
Rubinstein Variation, Blackburne Defense · ECO C10 · for Black
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.Be3 Bd7 8.Bd3 Nd5 9.O-O Nxe3 10.fxe3 Bd6 …
23 games · avg. Elo 2635 · W/D/L 4/13/6 · Model game: Nakamura – Firouzja, 2026 (1/2-1/2)
Classical Variation, Burn Variation, Morozevich Line · ECO C13 · for Black
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Bxf6 gxf6 7.Qd2 c5 8.Nf3 cxd4 9.Nxd4 f5 10.Ng3 Bf6 …
18 games · avg. Elo 2598 · W/D/L 6/9/3 · Model game: Maurizzi – Bacrot, 2025 (1/2-1/2)
Tarrasch Variation, Chistyakov Defense · ECO C07 · for Black
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Ngf3 cxd4 6.Bc4 Qd7 7.O-O Nc6 8.Nb3 a6 9.Nbxd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 Qc7 …
16 games · avg. Elo 2616 · W/D/L 2/12/2 · Model game: Papp – Vidit, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
Steinitz Variation · ECO C11 · for Black
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.dxc5 Nc6 7.a3 Nxc5 8.Nf3 Be7 9.Be3 a6 10.Qd2 O-O …
15 games · avg. Elo 2651 · W/D/L 4/7/4 · Model game: Praggnanandhaa – Gavrilescu, 2025 (1-0)
Classical Variation, Shirov-Anand Variation · ECO C11 · for Black
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Nce2 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Nf3 Be7 8.h4 f6 9.Nf4 Ndxe5 10.dxe5 fxe5 …
15 games · avg. Elo 2644 · W/D/L 4/9/2 · Model game: Robson – Sevian, 2025 (1/2-1/2)
Steinitz Variation · ECO C11 · for Black
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.dxc5 Nc6 7.a3 Nxc5 8.Nf3 Be7 9.Be3 a6 10.Qd2 O-O …
15 games · avg. Elo 2651 · W/D/L 4/7/4 · Model game: Praggnanandhaa – Gavrilescu, 2025 (1-0)
Classical Variation, Shirov-Anand Variation · ECO C11 · for Black
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Nce2 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Nf3 Be7 8.h4 f6 9.Nf4 Ndxe5 10.dxe5 fxe5 …
15 games · avg. Elo 2644 · W/D/L 4/9/2 · Model game: Robson – Sevian, 2025 (1/2-1/2)
Classical Variation · ECO C13 · for Black
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Nxf6+ Bxf6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.Nf3 O-O 9.Qd3 Bd7 10.Qe3 Nc6 …
12 games · avg. Elo 2606 · W/D/L 2/8/2 · Model game: Van Foreest – Firouzja, 2024 (0-1)
Learn every line move by move on an interactive board with Stockfish 19 evaluation, model games and spaced repetition. Also: every chess tournament worldwide and 4,100+ puzzles.
Try 7 days free →Other openings
Sicilian DefenseQueen's Gambit DeclinedRuy LopezEnglish OpeningItalian GameIndian DefensePetrov's DefenseNimzo-Indian DefenseZukertort OpeningCaro-Kann DefenseQueen's Pawn GameKing's Indian AttackFour Knights GameQueen's Gambit AcceptedCatalan OpeningScotch Game
Statistics from classical games of 2500+ rated players. Notation: K king, Q queen, R rook, B bishop, N knight.