C00

French Defense: Pelikan Variation

Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.

Statistics from Lichess

468,905 games: White 48.9% / Draw 4.2% / Black 46.9%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	134,607135K
	130,248130K
	93,76794K
	58,62359K
	16,34316K
	11,34011K
	3,8253,825
	3,2283,228

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026

Engine evaluation

−0.23 The position is about equal

Best play: 3... d4 4. Nce2 c5 5. d3 Nc6 6. Nf3 Be7 7. g3 b5 8. a4

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 48% under 1400, 50% at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	101K
1400–1799	208K
1800–2199	311K
2200 and up	30K
Masters, over the board	54

Master games

Yudasin, L. – Ulibin, M. ½–½, 1993
Tiviakov, S. – Sakalauskas, V. ½–½, 2010
Rhodes, J. D. – Halldórsson, J. Á. ½–½, 2011
Schlindwein, R. – Delemarre, J. 1–0, 2008
Mestrovic, Z. – Dizdar, G. 0–1, 1993

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: Pelikan Variation (ECO C00, Open Games) is a variation of the French Defense: Queen's Knight, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. f4 (3 moves).

In 468,905 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.9%, Black 46.9% and 4.2% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 3…d4, in 29% of those games.

Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.

Write a description or report a mistake

What would you like to send? A description of this line A mistake on this page (moves, name, statistics…)

Markdown supported (headings ###, bold, lists, links). Submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Your name (optional) Your email (optional, not published)

Description

How to play against the French Defense: Pelikan Variation

3…dxe4 scores best for Black: 51.3%, with Black winning 48.9% and White 46.2% of 130K games. The most played answer, 3…d4, scores lowest: 45.8% in 135K games. Stockfish's first choice is 3…d4.

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: Pelikan Variation dipped to 0.016% of Lichess games in 2022 and has recovered since: 0.02% in 2025.

0.018%0.02%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.018%	6,268
2017	0.019%	10,239
2018	0.02%	15,890
2019	0.019%	23,779
2020	0.018%	51,353
2021	0.017%	67,267
2022	0.016%	61,119
2023	0.017%	64,667
2024	0.019%	67,293
2025	0.02%	70,409
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.021%	22,659

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: Pelikan Variation (C00)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-pelikan-variation