French Defense: Normal Variation
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
99,338,029 games: White 48.7% / Draw 5.0% / Black 46.3%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| French Defense | 74,580,81574.6M | |
| French Defense: Franco-Sicilian Defense | 5,616,4015.6M | |
| 4,623,8814.6M | ||
| Rat Defense: Small Center Defense | 3,723,7553.7M | |
| 3,629,5483.6M | ||
| 1,320,7421.3M | ||
| French Defense: Mediterranean Defense | 1,311,7781.3M | |
| 830,220830K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 5, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.34 White is slightly better
Best play: 2... d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 cxd4 7. Nxd4
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% both under 1400 and at 2200 and up, and 56% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 26.4M | |
| 1400–1799 | 59.4M | |
| 1800–2199 | 56.8M | |
| 2200 and up | 8.6M | |
| Masters, over the board | 141K |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – Caruana, F.
- Aronian, L. – Carlsen, M.
- So, W. – Carlsen, M.
- Caruana, F. – So, W.
- Karjakin, S. – Carlsen, M.
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 26, 2026
Overview
French Defense: Normal Variation (ECO C00, Open Games) is a variation of the French Defense, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 (2 moves).
In 99,338,029 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.7%, Black 46.3% and 5.0% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 2…d5, in 75% of those games.
It branches into 6 named variations; the most played are French Defense and French Defense: Franco-Sicilian Defense. In all, 187 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
Write a description or report a mistake
How to play against the French Defense: Normal Variation
The most played answer, 2…d5 (French Defense), also scores best for Black: 49.6%, with Black winning 47.0% and White 47.7% of 74.6M games. Of the main answers, 2…c5 scores lowest: 47.4%. Stockfish's first choice is also 2…d5.
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: Normal Variation peaked in 2018 at 4.6% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 3.8% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4.4% | 1,570,670 |
| 2017 | 4.6% | 2,554,489 |
| 2018 | 4.6% | 3,649,637 |
| 2019 | 4.3% | 5,366,343 |
| 2020 | 4.0% | 11,782,869 |
| 2021 | 3.7% | 14,366,979 |
| 2022 | 3.6% | 13,573,592 |
| 2023 | 3.7% | 13,938,507 |
| 2024 | 3.7% | 13,381,630 |
| 2025 | 3.8% | 13,285,086 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 3.8% | 4,148,554 |
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
Variations (6)
Transpositions
All 187 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
Loading sub-variations…
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “French Defense: Normal Variation (C00)”. Lichess data as of 5 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-normal-variation