C02

French Defense: Advance Variation, Kupreichik Variation

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Statistics from Lichess

689,471 games: White 44.3% / Draw 4.7% / Black 51.0%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	369,821370K
	138,663139K
	64,06264K
	56,12156K
	12,67313K
	10,22810K
	8,1858,185
	7,6407,640

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 25, 2026

Engine evaluation

−0.22 The position is about equal

Best play: 5... Nh6 6. Bd3 Qb6 7. Ne2 Bd7 8. a4 Ng4 9. O-O a6 10. Bf4

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

By rating

The stronger the players, the better this line does for White: White scores 46% under 1400, 53% at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	123K
1400–1799	453K
1800–2199	377K
2200 and up	44K
Masters, over the board	223

Master games

Pridorozhni, A. – Ni, H. ½–½, 2010
Kupreichik, V. D. – Dolmatov, S. ½–½, 1992
Boensch, U. – Chernin, A. ½–½, 1994
Xie, J. – Kortschnoj, V. ½–½, 1998
Kupreichik, V. D. – Eingorn, V. S. ½–½, 1996

Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 27, 2026

Overview

French Defense: Advance Variation, Kupreichik Variation (ECO C02, Open Games) is a variation of the French Defense: Advance Variation, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Be3 (5 moves).

In 689,471 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 44.3%, Black 51.0% and 4.7% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 5…Qb6, in 54% of those games.

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Description

How to play against the French Defense: Advance Variation, Kupreichik Variation

The most played answer, 5…Qb6, also scores best for Black: 54.5%, with Black winning 52.1% and White 43.2% of 370K games. Of the main answers, 5…cxd4 scores lowest: 51.0%. Stockfish's first choice is 5…Nh6.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings

Popularity by year

The French Defense: Advance Variation, Kupreichik Variation has lost ground since 2016: 0.026% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.033%.

0.033%0.026%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.033%	11,636
2017	0.032%	17,662
2018	0.032%	24,873
2019	0.03%	37,190
2020	0.028%	82,832
2021	0.026%	103,373
2022	0.026%	97,319
2023	0.025%	94,167
2024	0.025%	90,144
2025	0.026%	89,867
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.025%	27,562

Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “French Defense: Advance Variation, Kupreichik Variation (C02)”. Lichess data as of 25 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-advance-variation-kupreichik-variation