Tree path 4 levels French Defense › Normal Variation › French Defense › Exchange Variation
- Caissa Codex
- French Defense C00
- Normal Variation C00
- French Defense C00
- Exchange Variation C01 you are here
French Defense: Exchange Variation
Overview
French Defense: Exchange Variation is a variation within the Open Games family, indexed as ECO C01.
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 5 plies — specifically the moves 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5.
It is a variation of French Defense, which itself descends from the root opening French Defense.
It branches into 3 notable variations — French Defense: Exchange Variation, French Defense: Exchange Variation, Monte Carlo Variation.
Together the deeper variations number 4 across the full subtree.
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
- C01
- Group
- Open Games (C)
- Plies
- 5
- Parent
- French Defense
- Direct variations
- 3
- Total in subtree
- 4
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
22,309,542 games · White 47.1% / Draw 6.0% / Black 46.8%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| exd5 | 20,989,668 | |
| Qxd5 | 1,095,139 | |
| Nf6 | 105,226 | |
| c5 | 57,371 | |
| e5 | 22,610 | |
| c6 | 10,218 | |
| Bd6 | 8,851 | |
| Qe7 | 4,066 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:09:42
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