C09

French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Open System, Main Line

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Statistics from Lichess

210,375 games: White 52.1% / Draw 6.8% / Black 41.1%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	141,139141K
	38,60639K
	13,87714K
	7,9117,911
	4,6994,699
	2,3422,342
	646646
	480480

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

Engine evaluation

+0.26 The position is about equal

Best play: 6. Bb5 Qe7+ 7. Be2 Qc7 8. O-O Nf6 9. Bb5 cxd4 10. Qe2+ Be7

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 42% under 1400, 47% at 2200 and up and 44% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	3,655
1400–1799	37K
1800–2199	126K
2200 and up	58K
Masters, over the board	2,425

Master games

Kasparov, G. – Bareev, E. 1–0, 2001
Nepomniachtchi, I. – Rapport, R. ½–½, 2023
Svidler, P. – Kramnik, V. ½–½, 1999
Wang Hao – Rapport, R. ½–½, 2022
Gukesh, D. – Wang Hao ½–½, 2023

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, Open System, Main Line (ECO C09, Open Games) is a variation of the French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Open System, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 exd5 5. Ngf3 Nc6 (5 moves).

In 210,375 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 52.1%, Black 41.1% and 6.8% were drawn. White's most played move here is 6. Bb5, in 67% of those games.

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Description

How to play against the French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Open System, Main Line

The most played answer, 6. Bb5, also scores best for White: 57.4%, with White winning 53.9% and Black 39.1% of 141K games. Of the main answers, 6. dxc5 scores lowest: 51.1%. Stockfish's first choice is also 6. Bb5.

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, Open System, Main Line peaked in 2018 at 0.012% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.0079% in 2025.

0.008%0.0079%0.012%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.008%	2,851
2017	0.011%	5,921
2018	0.012%	9,480
2019	0.01%	12,741
2020	0.0093%	27,141
2021	0.0077%	30,036
2022	0.0073%	27,277
2023	0.0075%	28,267
2024	0.0074%	26,697
2025	0.0079%	27,292
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.0083%	9,047

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: Tarrasch Variation, Open System, Main Line (C09)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-tarrasch-variation-open-system-main-line