C02

French Defense: Advance Variation, Wade Variation

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Statistics from Lichess

499,849 games: White 44.7% / Draw 6.0% / Black 49.3%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	161,913162K
	122,033122K
	105,629106K
	19,52420K
	18,19218K
	16,24816K
	14,07514K
	14,04914K

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

Engine evaluation

+0.38 White is slightly better

Best play: 6. Be2 Bb5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. b4 Bxf2+ 9. Kf1 Bc6 10. a4 a6

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 worse this line does for Black: Black scores 53% under 1400, 50% at 2200 and up and 46% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	29K
1400–1799	155K
1800–2199	281K
2200 and up	119K
Masters, over the board	1,783

Master games

Vachier Lagrave, M. – Aronian, L. 1–0, 2018
Vidit, S. – Rapport, R. 0–1, 2022
Svidler, P. – Gelfand, B. 1–0, 2006
Svidler, P. – Shirov, A. 0–1, 2004
Grischuk, A. – Morozevich, A. 1–0, 2011

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, Wade 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 Qb6 5. Nf3 Bd7 (5 moves).

In 499,849 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 44.7%, Black 49.3% and 6.0% were drawn. White's most played move here is 6. Bd3, in 32% of those games.

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Description

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

6. a3 scores best for White: 50.0%, with White winning 46.5% and Black 46.5% of 106K games. The most played, 6. Bd3, scores 48.9% in 162K games, and 6. Be2 scores lowest: 47.6%. Stockfish's first choice is 6. Be2.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White'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, Wade Variation dipped to 0.016% of Lichess games in 2021 and has recovered since: 0.021% in 2025.

0.02%0.021%0.022%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.02%	7,254
2017	0.021%	11,699
2018	0.022%	17,584
2019	0.02%	24,624
2020	0.018%	51,413
2021	0.016%	64,102
2022	0.018%	69,296
2023	0.02%	75,764
2024	0.021%	73,626
2025	0.021%	72,955
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.021%	22,482

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, Wade Variation (C02)”. Lichess data as of 7 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-advance-variation-wade-variation