French Defense: Paulsen Variation
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Statistics from Lichess
19,461,036 games: White 50.0% / Draw 5.3% / Black 44.7%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| French Defense: Classical Variation | 7,015,9017M | |
| French Defense: Winawer Variation | 5,141,3635.1M | |
| French Defense: Rubinstein Variation | 4,264,0964.3M | |
| French Defense: Marshall Gambit | 1,548,1021.5M | |
| 634,774635K | ||
| French Defense: Hecht-Reefschläger Variation | 244,993245K | |
| 129,194129K | ||
| 124,823125K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 3, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.40 White is slightly better
Best play: 3... Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Qb6 8. Be3
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 51% under 1400, 52% at 2200 and up and 57% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 3.5M | |
| 1400–1799 | 6.9M | |
| 1800–2199 | 12M | |
| 2200 and up | 3.2M | |
| Masters, over the board | 71K |
Master games
- So, W. – Carlsen, M.
- Aronian, L. – Carlsen, M.
- Caruana, F. – So, W.
- Karjakin, S. – Carlsen, M.
- 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: Paulsen Variation (ECO C10, Open Games) is a variation of the French Defense, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 (3 moves).
In 19,461,036 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.0%, Black 44.7% and 5.3% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 3…Nf6, in 36% of those games.
It branches into 6 named variations; the most played are French Defense: Classical Variation and French Defense: Winawer Variation. In all, 116 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
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How to play against the French Defense: Paulsen Variation
The most played answer, 3…Nf6 (French Defense: Classical Variation), also scores best for Black: 48.8%, with Black winning 46.2% and White 48.6% of 7M games. Of the main answers, 3…c5 scores lowest: 42.4%. Stockfish's first choice is also 3…Nf6.
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: Paulsen Variation peaked in 2018 at 1.0% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.77% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.83% | 296,229 |
| 2017 | 0.95% | 523,702 |
| 2018 | 1.0% | 796,232 |
| 2019 | 0.9% | 1,121,647 |
| 2020 | 0.84% | 2,458,053 |
| 2021 | 0.7% | 2,742,014 |
| 2022 | 0.66% | 2,486,835 |
| 2023 | 0.69% | 2,584,196 |
| 2024 | 0.72% | 2,569,428 |
| 2025 | 0.77% | 2,674,214 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.79% | 862,589 |
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 116 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
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Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “French Defense: Paulsen Variation (C10)”. Lichess data as of 3 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-paulsen-variation