C02

French Defense: Advance Variation, Paulsen Attack

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Statistics from Lichess

11,264,296 games: White 46.3% / Draw 4.6% / Black 49.1%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	5,399,0465.4M
French Defense: Advance Variation, Euwe Variation	2,278,7432.3M
	1,262,6981.3M
	1,224,6201.2M
	202,428202K
	182,024182K
	113,597114K
	112,000112K

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 7, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.27 The position is about equal

Best play: 5... Bd7 6. Be2 Nge7 7. O-O Ng6 8. g3 f6 9. exf6 Qxf6 10. Be3

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 47% under 1400, 52% at 2200 and up and 54% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	1.5M
1400–1799	6M
1800–2199	6.6M
2200 and up	1M
Masters, over the board	11K

Master games

Giri, A. – Carlsen, M. 0–1, 2022
Caruana, F. – Nepomniachtchi, I. 1–0, 2021
Caruana, F. – Nepomniachtchi, I. ½–½, 2021
Caruana, F. – Nepomniachtchi, I. ½–½, 2021
Topalov, V. – Caruana, F. 0–1, 2016

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 26, 2026

Overview

French Defense: Advance Variation, Paulsen Attack (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. Nf3 (5 moves).

In 11,264,296 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 46.3%, Black 49.1% and 4.6% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 5…Qb6, in 48% of those games.

It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are French Defense: Advance Variation, Euwe Variation and French Defense: Advance Variation, Milner-Barry Gambit. In all, 8 named lines continue from it.

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Description

How to play against the French Defense: Advance Variation, Paulsen Attack

5…Bd7 (French Defense: Advance Variation, Euwe Variation) scores best for Black: 52.9%, with Black winning 50.5% and White 44.8% of 2.3M games. The most played, 5…Qb6, scores 51.6% in 5.4M games, and 5…cxd4 scores lowest: 48.8%. Stockfish's first choice is also 5…Bd7.

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, Paulsen Attack has stayed between 0.4% and 0.47% of Lichess games a year since 2016 (0.46% in 2025).

0.4%0.46%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.4%	144,208
2017	0.45%	249,642
2018	0.47%	370,027
2019	0.44%	553,155
2020	0.44%	1,299,682
2021	0.42%	1,634,990
2022	0.42%	1,563,213
2023	0.43%	1,618,087
2024	0.43%	1,558,200
2025	0.46%	1,583,705
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.45%	498,907

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

Variations (3)

All 8 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “French Defense: Advance Variation, Paulsen Attack (C02)”. Lichess data as of 7 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-advance-variation-paulsen-attack