Tree path 6 levels French Defense › Normal Variation › French Defense › Paulsen Variation › French Defense: Classical Variation › Swiss Variation
- Chess Codex
- French Defense C00
- Normal Variation C00
- French Defense C00
- Paulsen Variation C10
- French Defense: Classical Variation C11
- Swiss Variation C11 you are here
French Defense: Classical Variation, Swiss Variation
Overview
French Defense: Classical Variation, Swiss 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.
Play reaches this position via 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bd3, after 7 plies of opening development.
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
- C11
- Group
- Open Games (C)
- Plies
- 7
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
370,570 games · White 49.1% / Draw 4.9% / Black 46.0%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| c5 | 124,436 | |
| dxe4 | 106,296 | |
| Bb4 | 73,589 | |
| Be7 | 35,671 | |
| a6 | 7,531 | |
| Nc6 | 5,931 | |
| c6 | 4,817 | |
| Nfd7 | 2,872 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:36:44
Write a description
Markdown supported (headings ###, bold, lists, links).
Submissions are reviewed before publishing.