Tree path 4 levels French Defense › Normal Variation › French Defense › Morphy Gambit
- Chess Codex
- French Defense C00
- Normal Variation C00
- French Defense C00
- Morphy Gambit C00 you are here
French Defense: Morphy Gambit
Overview
French Defense: Morphy Gambit belongs to the gambit family of chess openings (ECO C00, Open Games). It trades material for attacking chances — a classic trade-off that has fascinated players from the Romantic era to modern correspondence chess.
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. Nh3, after 5 plies of opening development.
The line refines French Defense, which traces back to the root opening French Defense.
Explore the position on the interactive board, study its real-world results from Lichess, and challenge the engine when you are ready.
- ECO code
- C00
- Group
- Open Games (C)
- Plies
- 5
- Parent
- French Defense
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
909 games · White 38.3% / Draw 3.9% / Black 57.9%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| dxe4 | 509 | |
| c5 | 173 | |
| Nf6 | 113 | |
| Nc6 | 25 | |
| c6 | 21 | |
| Be7 | 13 | |
| h6 | 12 | |
| g6 | 7 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:09:23
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