French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Guimard Defense
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
428,583 games: White 48.5% / Draw 6.0% / Black 45.5%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 214,323214K | ||
| 147,201147K | ||
| 24,13824K | ||
| 19,39319K | ||
| 14,19114K | ||
| 4,7044,704 | ||
| 3,1613,161 | ||
| 437437 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 25, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.70 White is better
Best play: 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nd7 6. Nb3 a5 7. a4 Be7 8. Bf4 O-O
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 45% under 1400, 50% at 2200 and up and 42% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 16K | |
| 1400–1799 | 72K | |
| 1800–2199 | 228K | |
| 2200 and up | 152K | |
| Masters, over the board | 3,043 |
Master games
- Karjakin, S. – Grischuk, A.
- Giri, A. – Nakamura, H.
- Movsesian, S. – Rapport, R.
- Zarnicki, P. – Kasparov, G.
- Stripunsky, A. – Nakamura, H.
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: Tarrasch Variation, Guimard Defense (ECO C03, Open Games) is a variation of the French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nc6 (3 moves).
In 428,583 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.5%, Black 45.5% and 6.0% were drawn. White's most played move here is 4. Ngf3, in 50% of those games.
It branches into 2 named variations; the most played are French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Guimard Defense, Main Line and French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Guimard Defense, Thunderbunny Variation.
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: Tarrasch Variation, Guimard Defense
The most played answer, 4. Ngf3, also scores best for White: 52.1%, with White winning 49.1% and Black 44.9% of 214K games. Of the main answers, 4. exd5 scores lowest: 48.8%. Stockfish's first choice is also 4. Ngf3.
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: Tarrasch Variation, Guimard Defense has lost ground since 2016: 0.016% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.02% (its peak: 0.027% in 2018).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.02% | 7,202 |
| 2017 | 0.024% | 13,324 |
| 2018 | 0.027% | 21,149 |
| 2019 | 0.022% | 27,750 |
| 2020 | 0.02% | 57,622 |
| 2021 | 0.015% | 59,010 |
| 2022 | 0.014% | 54,189 |
| 2023 | 0.014% | 53,631 |
| 2024 | 0.015% | 52,656 |
| 2025 | 0.016% | 57,113 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.016% | 17,654 |
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: Tarrasch Variation, Guimard Defense (C03)”. Lichess data as of 25 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-tarrasch-variation-guimard-defense