Tree path 9 levels French Defense › Normal Variation › French Defense › Paulsen Variation › French Defense: Classical Variation › French Defense: Classical Variation › Normal Variation › French Defense: Classical Variation › Alapin Variation
French Defense: Classical Variation, Alapin Variation
Overview
French Defense: Classical Variation, Alapin Variation is a variation within the Open Games family, indexed as ECO C14.
The Open Games group covers open games — classical 1.e4 e5 openings where both sides contest the centre directly with pawns.
The line arises from 13 plies — specifically the moves 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. Nb5.
It is a variation of French Defense: Classical Variation, which itself descends from the root opening French Defense.
Step through the moves on the interactive board below, review the live Lichess statistics, or play this position against Stockfish at one of six difficulty levels.
- ECO code
- C14
- Group
- Open Games (C)
- Plies
- 13
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
49,159 games · White 56.5% / Draw 5.1% / Black 38.4%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Nb6 | 18,329 | |
| Na6 | 12,089 | |
| Qd8 | 10,946 | |
| Qb4+ | 2,959 | |
| a6 | 2,395 | |
| Nf8 | 938 | |
| O-O | 789 | |
| c5 | 478 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 02:48:18
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