Tree path 5 levels French Defense › Normal Variation › French Defense › Paulsen Variation › French Defense: Classical Variation
- Chess Codex
- French Defense C00
- Normal Variation C00
- French Defense C00
- Paulsen Variation C10
- French Defense: Classical Variation C11 you are here
French Defense: Classical Variation
Overview
French Defense: Classical Variation is a named branch in the Open Games group of chess theory, classified under ECO C11.
The Open Games group covers open games — classical 1.e4 e5 openings where both sides contest the centre directly with pawns.
Play reaches this position via 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6, after 6 plies of opening development.
In the opening tree, this line branches off from French Defense: Paulsen Variation, part of the broader French Defense system.
5 named variations grow from this line, including French Defense: Classical Variation, Delayed Exchange Variation, Steinitz Variation, and others.
Below the direct variations, the full subtree contains 48 documented sub-variations.
Use the board to walk through every move, check how the position has scored on Lichess, or take it head-to-head against Stockfish.
- ECO code
- C11
- Group
- Open Games (C)
- Plies
- 6
- Direct variations
- 5
- Total in subtree
- 48
This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.
Statistics from Lichess
8,101,227 games · White 48.7% / Draw 5.1% / Black 46.2%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| e5 | 4,120,478 | |
| Bg5 | 2,896,314 | |
| exd5 | 486,030 | |
| Bd3 | 347,469 | |
| f3 | 104,285 | |
| Be3 | 56,070 | |
| Nf3 | 34,242 | |
| a3 | 16,682 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:22:57
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Variations (5)
Show all 48 sub-variations (full subtree)
- C11 French Defense: Classical Variation 7-ply
- C11 Delayed Exchange Variation 7-ply
- C11 Steinitz Variation 7-ply
- C11 Swiss Variation 7-ply
- C11 French Defense: Henneberger Variation 7-ply
- C11 Burn Variation 8-ply
- C13 Normal Variation 8-ply
- C11 French Defense: Classical Variation, Shirov-Anand Variation 9-ply
- C01 French Defense: Exchange Variation, Svenonius Variation 9-ply
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation 8-ply
- C11 French Defense: Steinitz Variation 12-ply
- C11 French Defense: Steinitz Variation 11-ply
- C11 French Defense: Steinitz Variation, Bradford Attack Variation 13-ply
- C11 French Defense: Steinitz Variation, Gledhill Attack 9-ply
- C13 French Defense: Alekhine-Chatard Attack 11-ply
- C13 French Defense: Classical Variation 10-ply
- C14 French Defense: Classical Variation 12-ply
- C13 French Defense: Classical Variation, Richter Attack 9-ply
- C13 French Defense: Classical Variation, Tartakower Variation 10-ply
- C13 French Defense: Classical Variation, Vistaneckis Variation 10-ply
- C12 Advance Variation 9-ply
- C12 Exchange Variation 9-ply
- C11 Boleslavsky Variation 13-ply
- C11 Brodsky-Jones Variation 18-ply
- C13 Albin-Chatard Gambit 14-ply
- C13 Breyer Variation 12-ply
- C13 Maróczy Variation 12-ply
- C13 Spielmann Variation 12-ply
- C13 Teichmann Variation 12-ply
- C14 Alapin Variation 13-ply
- C11 Burn Variation, Main Line 14-ply
- C11 Burn Variation, Morozevich Line 12-ply
- C13 French Defense: Classical Variation, Frankfurt Variation 12-ply
- C14 Pollock Variation 13-ply
- C13 French Defense: Classical Variation, Richter Attack 13-ply
- C14 Rubinstein Variation 13-ply
- C14 Steinitz Variation 13-ply
- C14 Tarrasch Variation 13-ply
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Bernstein Variation 11-ply
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Bogoljubow Variation 14-ply
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Chigorin Variation 11-ply
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Dr. Olland Variation 11-ply
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Janowski Variation 11-ply
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Lasker Variation 12-ply
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Tartakower Variation 12-ply
- C14 French Defense: Classical Variation, Stahlberg Variation 20-ply
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Grigoriev Variation 17-ply
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Lasker Variation 16-ply