French Defense: Classical Variation, Burn Variation
The Burn Variation is 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4, a line of the Classical Variation of the French Defense named after Amos Burn. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
831,721 games: White 50.3% / Draw 6.6% / Black 43.1%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 713,920714K | ||
| 66,62167K | ||
| 40,18240K | ||
| 3,5713,571 | ||
| 2,5722,572 | ||
| 1,2351,235 | ||
| 962962 | ||
| 902902 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 28, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.23 The position is about equal
Best play: 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Nxf6+ Bxf6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Qd3 Rd8
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: Black scores 48% under 1400, 46% at 2200 and up and 47% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 70K | |
| 1400–1799 | 210K | |
| 1800–2199 | 487K | |
| 2200 and up | 215K | |
| Masters, over the board | 6,463 |
Master games
- Kasparov, G. – Shirov, A.
- Carlsen, M. – Grischuk, A.
- Gashimov, V. – Anand, V.
- Gashimov, V. – Carlsen, M.
- Kasparov, G. – Bareev, E.
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
Description
The Burn Variation is 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4, a line of the Classical Variation of the French Defense named after Amos Burn. It is Black's most common reply to 4.Bg5 at the top level.
The idea
Black gives up the centre by taking on e4, much as in the Rubinstein Variation. The difference is that White's bishop is already on g5, and after the usual exchange on f6 Black gets the bishop pair. That gives Black more dynamic chances than in the Rubinstein, although White's knight is well placed on e4, and the line is more popular than the Rubinstein. It has long been a favourite of Evgeny Bareev.
Main lines
After White's usual 5.Nxe4:
- 5...Be7 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 7.Nf3 Nd7 (or 7...O-O) is the main line.
- 5...Be7 6.Bxf6 gxf6, as played by Alexander Morozevich and Gregory Kaidanov, accepts a poor pawn structure. Black follows up with ...f5 and ...Bf6 and gets active piece play in return.
- 5...Nbd7 6.Nf3 Be7 7.Nxf6+ Bxf6 is another line that resembles the Rubinstein; 6...h6 is also tried.
The other main fourth move for Black is 4...Bb4, the McCutcheon Variation.
The numbers
On Lichess White wins 50.3% of the 831,721 games and Black 43.1%. Under 1400 the gap is small, 49.8% against 46.1%; from 2200 up White leads 50.0% to 41.3%. Masters over the board draw about half their games: in 6,463 games 49.5% were drawn, White won 28.5% and Black 22.0%.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the French Defense: Classical Variation, Burn Variation
5. Bxf6 scores best for White: 57.9%, with White winning 55.2% and Black 39.5% of 67K games. The most played answer, 5. Nxe4, scores lowest: 53.2% in 714K games. Stockfish's first choice is 5. Nxe4.
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: Classical Variation, Burn Variation dipped to 0.029% of Lichess games in 2021 and has recovered since: 0.035% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.029% | 10,424 |
| 2017 | 0.034% | 18,664 |
| 2018 | 0.036% | 28,555 |
| 2019 | 0.033% | 40,819 |
| 2020 | 0.035% | 103,344 |
| 2021 | 0.029% | 112,111 |
| 2022 | 0.029% | 108,856 |
| 2023 | 0.031% | 115,202 |
| 2024 | 0.033% | 117,982 |
| 2025 | 0.035% | 119,914 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.038% | 41,397 |
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 (1)
Transpositions
All 3 named lines that continue from here
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article French Defence, version of 19 October 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “French Defense: Classical Variation, Burn Variation (C11)”. Lichess data as of 28 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-classical-variation-burn-variation