C00

French Defense: Horwitz Attack, Papa-Ticulat Gambit

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Statistics from Lichess

706,873 games: White 51.4% / Draw 4.8% / Black 43.8%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	376,038376K
	160,845161K
	71,54172K
	53,38453K
	16,83517K
	9,4489,448
	3,8793,879
	3,3713,371

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 2, 2026

Engine evaluation

−0.16 The position is about equal

Best play: 3... Nc6 4. exd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Be2 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. Re1

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

By rating

Rating changes little here: White scores 52% under 1400, 54% at 2200 and up and 52% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	40K
1400–1799	196K
1800–2199	441K
2200 and up	132K
Masters, over the board	589

Master games

Van Foreest, J. – Duda, J. 0–1, 2017
Vallejo Pons, F. – Santos Latasa, J. ½–½, 2021
Dardha, D. – Bluebaum, M. ½–½, 2024
Van Foreest, J. – Meier, G. 1–0, 2017
Paichadze, L. – Martirosyan, H. M. 1–0, 2019

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

Overview

French Defense: Horwitz Attack, Papa-Ticulat Gambit (ECO C00, Open Games) is a gambit in the French Defense: Horwitz Attack, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. b3 d5 3. Bb2 (3 moves).

In 706,873 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 51.4%, Black 43.8% and 4.8% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 3…dxe4, in 53% of those games.

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Description

How to play against the French Defense: Horwitz Attack, Papa-Ticulat Gambit

3…d4 scores best for Black: 48.9%, with Black winning 46.7% and White 49.0% of 53K games. The most played answer, 3…dxe4, scores lowest: 44.1% in 376K games. Stockfish's first choice is 3…Nc6.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black'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: Horwitz Attack, Papa-Ticulat Gambit dipped to 0.023% of Lichess games in 2021 and has recovered since: 0.034% in 2025.

0.03%0.034%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.03%	10,817
2017	0.03%	16,322
2018	0.032%	24,851
2019	0.027%	33,102
2020	0.026%	75,246
2021	0.023%	88,215
2022	0.023%	86,394
2023	0.025%	94,116
2024	0.029%	105,079
2025	0.034%	119,028
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.036%	39,317

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

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “French Defense: Horwitz Attack, Papa-Ticulat Gambit (C00)”. Lichess data as of 2 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-horwitz-attack-papa-ticulat-gambit