Tree path 2 levels French Defense › Knight Variation
- Caissa Codex
- French Defense C00
- Knight Variation C00 you are here
French Defense: Knight Variation
Overview
French Defense: Knight Variation is a variation within the Open Games family, indexed as ECO C00.
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 3 plies — specifically the moves 1. e4 e6 2. Nf3.
It is a direct variation of French Defense.
It branches into 3 notable variations — Franco-Hiva Gambit, French Defense: Two Knights Variation, French Defense: Wing Gambit.
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
- C00
- Group
- Open Games (C)
- Plies
- 3
- Parent
- French Defense
- Direct variations
- 3
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
42,228,327 games · White 46.8% / Draw 4.9% / Black 48.3%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| d5 | 27,662,577 | |
| c5 | 3,641,706 | |
| b6 | 2,464,345 | |
| c6 | 2,170,159 | |
| d6 | 1,834,180 | |
| Nf6 | 728,624 | |
| Ne7 | 674,526 | |
| Nc6 | 640,669 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 00:53:44
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