Tree path 6 levels French Defense › Normal Variation › French Defense › Paulsen Variation › French Defense: Classical Variation › Delayed Exchange Variation
- Chess Codex
- French Defense C00
- Normal Variation C00
- French Defense C00
- Paulsen Variation C10
- French Defense: Classical Variation C11
- Delayed Exchange Variation C11 you are here
French Defense: Classical Variation, Delayed Exchange Variation
Overview
French Defense: Classical Variation, Delayed Exchange Variation is a variation within the Open Games family, indexed as ECO C11.
The Open Games group covers open games — classical 1.e4 e5 openings where both sides contest the centre directly with pawns.
It begins with 7 plies and takes 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. exd5 to reach the canonical position.
It is a variation of French Defense: Classical Variation, which itself descends from the root opening French Defense.
It continues primarily into one named line, French Defense: Exchange Variation, Svenonius Variation.
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
- C11
- Group
- Open Games (C)
- Plies
- 7
- Direct variations
- 1
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
569,473 games · White 47.9% / Draw 6.1% / Black 46.1%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| exd5 | 384,286 | |
| Nxd5 | 139,553 | |
| Bb4 | 21,635 | |
| Bd6 | 8,354 | |
| Nfd7 | 6,344 | |
| c6 | 2,992 | |
| c5 | 1,897 | |
| Qe7 | 1,134 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:36:38
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