Open games & French

French Defense

1.e4 e6

The French Defense starts with 1.e4 e6 and is catalogued under ECO C00, in the open games & french half of the book. The catalog indexes 212 lines inside it, grouped into 170 named variations, and the position after those moves has 6 playable continuations to walk from here.

Opening repertoire map

Root edges show how often each move is played around your Elo. Use the arrow on a position to reveal the next replies.

Current position
French Defense: Paulsen Variation
Popularity by Elo
Share of Lichess blitz, rapid, and classical games that continued with each move.
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h

Current setup

Move ideas

  1. 1.e4

    Claims the center with a pawn and opens lines for the queen and king’s bishop.

    Idea: Build quick development and make early castling possible.

  2. 1…e6

    Prepares ...d5 to challenge White’s center with a supported pawn.

    Idea: Build a compact pawn chain, then attack its base with ...c5.

  3. 2.d4

    Advances to d4 to claim central space and control nearby key squares.

    Idea: Give the pieces room to develop behind a durable central foothold.

  4. 2…d5

    Advances to d5 to claim central space and control nearby key squares.

    Idea: Give the pieces room to develop behind a durable central foothold.

  5. 3.Nc3

    Develops the knight to c3, bringing it into the game.

    Idea: Improve piece coordination and clear the back rank for castling and the rooks.

Book continuations

Waiting for Lichess game popularity.

6 moves
Nf6French Defense: Classical Variation42 named lines · French Defense: Steinitz Variation · French Defense: McCutcheon VariationDevelops the knight to f6, bringing it into the game.Idea: Improve piece coordination and clear the back rank for castling and the rooks.Bb4French Defense: Winawer Variation34 named lines · French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Wolf Gambit · French Defense: Winawer Variation, Warsaw VariationDevelops the bishop to b4, bringing it into the game.Idea: Improve piece coordination and clear the back rank for castling and the rooks.dxe4French Defense: Rubinstein Variation6 named lines · French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Ellis Gambit · French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Capablanca LineCaptures the pawn on e4 and changes the local pawn or piece balance.Idea: Open lines in the center and reshape the center for the next phase.a6French Defense: Paulsen Variation2 named lines · French Defense: Steinitz Variation · French Defense: Classical VariationAdvances the a-pawn to gain queenside edge space and control new squares.Idea: Create useful wing space while keeping the central structure flexible.c5French Defense: Marshall Gambit1 named lineAdvances the c-pawn to gain queenside space and control new squares.Idea: Create useful wing space while keeping the central structure flexible.Nc6French Defense: Hecht-Reefschläger Variation1 named lineDevelops the knight to c6, bringing it into the game.Idea: Improve piece coordination and clear the back rank for castling and the rooks.

Named variations

Each line below is an indexed entry under French Defense. Open one to load it on the board and keep exploring from that position.

146 more named lines sit inside this family — the tree above walks all of them.

Openings from the same volume

ECO groups openings by the structures they lead to, so these families tend to share plans with the French Defense.