French Defense: St. George Defense
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
880,153 games: White 51.9% / Draw 4.1% / Black 44.0%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 273,639274K | ||
| Three Pawn Attack | 199,593200K | |
| 130,121130K | ||
| 68,26568K | ||
| 63,32163K | ||
| 38,20638K | ||
| 18,28818K | ||
| 17,28017K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.51 White is slightly better
Best play: 3. Be3 d5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bd3 Nxe4 6. Nxe4 dxe4 7. Bxe4 Nd7
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
The stronger the players, the better this line does for Black: Black scores 48% under 1400, 51% at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 429K | |
| 1400–1799 | 946K | |
| 1800–2199 | 366K | |
| 2200 and up | 36K | |
| Masters, over the board | 254 |
Master games
- Anand, V. – Topalov, V.
- Rublevsky, S. – Nielsen, P.
- Maksimovic, B. – Carlsen, M.
- Meier, G. – Bauer, C.
- Popov, I. R. – Fedoseev, V.
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: St. George Defense (ECO C00, Open Games) is a variation of the French Defense: Normal Variation, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6 (2 moves).
In 880,153 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 51.9%, Black 44.0% and 4.1% were drawn. White's most played move here is 3. Nf3, in 31% of those games.
It branches into 2 named variations; the most played are French Defense: St. George Defense, Three Pawn Attack and French Defense: St. George Defense, Traditional Line. In all, 4 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: St. George Defense
3. Bd3 scores best for White: 56.1%, with White winning 54.1% and Black 42.0% of 63K games. The most played, 3. Nf3, scores 53.5% in 274K games, and 3. Nc3 scores lowest: 53.4%. Stockfish's first choice is 3. Be3.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White'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: St. George Defense has lost ground since 2016: 0.035% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.053%.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.053% | 18,863 |
| 2017 | 0.05% | 27,529 |
| 2018 | 0.039% | 30,792 |
| 2019 | 0.037% | 46,336 |
| 2020 | 0.03% | 88,915 |
| 2021 | 0.031% | 120,515 |
| 2022 | 0.031% | 115,527 |
| 2023 | 0.034% | 129,446 |
| 2024 | 0.035% | 126,333 |
| 2025 | 0.035% | 121,999 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.034% | 36,828 |
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 (2)
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “French Defense: St. George Defense (C00)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-st-george-defense