French Defense: Classical Variation 3…Nf6 4. Bg5
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Statistics from Lichess
3,409,026 games: White 50.4% / Draw 5.5% / Black 44.0%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Normal Variation | 1,964,9332M | |
| Burn Variation | 745,763746K | |
| French Defense: McCutcheon Variation | 503,997504K | |
| 139,510140K | ||
| 14,93915K | ||
| 13,49613K | ||
| 10,18810K | ||
| 7,4657,465 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.23 The position is about equal
Best play: 4... dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Bxf6 gxf6 7. Nf3 a6 8. g3 Nc6 9. Nc3
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: White scores 53% both under 1400 and at 2200 and up, and 55% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 195K | |
| 1400–1799 | 760K | |
| 1800–2199 | 2.2M | |
| 2200 and up | 714K | |
| Masters, over the board | 15K |
Master games
- Kasparov, G. – Shirov, A.
- Anand, V. – Nakamura, H.
- Carlsen, M. – Grischuk, A.
- Anand, V. – Morozevich, A.
- Gashimov, V. – Anand, V.
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: Classical Variation (ECO C11, Open Games) is a variation of the French Defense: Classical Variation, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 (4 moves).
In 3,409,026 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.4%, Black 44.0% and 5.5% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 4…Be7, in 58% of those games.
It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are French Defense: Classical Variation, Normal Variation and French Defense: Classical Variation, Burn Variation. In all, 35 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
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How to answer 4. Bg5
4…Bb4 (French Defense: McCutcheon Variation) scores best for Black: 50.2%, with Black winning 47.2% and White 46.7% of 504K games. The most played answer, 4…Be7, scores lowest: 46.4% in 2M games. Stockfish's first choice is 4…dxe4.
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
This line peaked in 2018 at 0.19% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.12% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.15% | 52,952 |
| 2017 | 0.18% | 96,428 |
| 2018 | 0.19% | 146,336 |
| 2019 | 0.16% | 204,611 |
| 2020 | 0.16% | 458,469 |
| 2021 | 0.13% | 491,381 |
| 2022 | 0.12% | 442,524 |
| 2023 | 0.12% | 447,146 |
| 2024 | 0.12% | 437,365 |
| 2025 | 0.12% | 432,068 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.13% | 140,796 |
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 35 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
- C11 Burn Variation 4 moves
- C13 Normal Variation 4 moves
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation 4 moves
- C13 French Defense: Alekhine-Chatard Attack 6 moves
- C13 French Defense: Classical Variation 5 moves
- C14 French Defense: Classical Variation 6 moves
- C13 French Defense: Classical Variation, Richter Attack 5 moves
- C13 French Defense: Classical Variation, Tartakower Variation 5 moves
- C13 French Defense: Classical Variation, Vistaneckis Variation 5 moves
- C12 Advance Variation 5 moves
- C12 Exchange Variation 5 moves
- C13 Albin-Chatard Gambit 7 moves
- C13 Breyer Variation 6 moves
- C13 Maróczy Variation 6 moves
- C13 Spielmann Variation 6 moves
- C13 Teichmann Variation 6 moves
- C14 Alapin Variation 7 moves
- C11 Burn Variation, Main Line 7 moves
- C11 Burn Variation, Morozevich Line 6 moves
- C13 French Defense: Classical Variation, Frankfurt Variation 6 moves
- C14 Pollock Variation 7 moves
- C13 Richter Attack 7 moves
- C14 Rubinstein Variation 7 moves
- C14 Steinitz Variation 7 moves
- C14 Tarrasch Variation 7 moves
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Bernstein Variation 6 moves
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Bogoljubow Variation 7 moves
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Chigorin Variation 6 moves
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Dr. Olland Variation 6 moves
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Janowski Variation 6 moves
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Lasker Variation 6 moves
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Tartakower Variation 6 moves
- C14 French Defense: Classical Variation, Stahlberg Variation 10 moves
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Grigoriev Variation 9 moves
- C12 Lasker Variation 8 moves
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “French Defense: Classical Variation (C11)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-classical-variation-2