C00

French Defense: Wing Gambit

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Statistics from Lichess

945,410 games: White 53.2% / Draw 4.4% / Black 42.5%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	497,164497K
	182,385182K
	92,51093K
	88,88189K
	41,54442K
	14,33114K
	9,8619,861
	6,6886,688

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

Engine evaluation

−0.19 The position is about equal

Best play: 4... cxb4 5. a3 Qa5 6. Be2 Bd7 7. Bb2 Nc6 8. O-O Qc7 9. d4

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 52% under 1400, 53% at 2200 and up and 48% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	13K
1400–1799	139K
1800–2199	642K
2200 and up	198K
Masters, over the board	511

Master games

Christiansen, J. – Vitiugov, N. ½–½, 2019
Zvjaginsev, V. – Rodshtein, M. 0–1, 2012
Bernadskiy, V. – Rublevsky, S. 0–1, 2020
Zvjaginsev, V. – Epishin, V. 1–0, 2009
Al Modiahki, M. – Short, N. ½–½, 2017

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: Wing Gambit (ECO C00, Open Games) is a gambit in the French Defense: Knight Variation, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e5 c5 4. b4 (4 moves).

In 945,410 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 53.2%, Black 42.5% and 4.4% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 4…cxb4, in 53% of those games.

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Description

How to play against the French Defense: Wing Gambit

4…c4 scores best for Black: 49.3%, with Black winning 47.1% and White 48.5% of 89K games. The most played, 4…cxb4, scores 44.4% in 497K games, and 4…Nc6 scores lowest: 40.6%. Stockfish's first choice is 4…cxb4.

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: Wing Gambit has gained ground since 2016: 0.041% of Lichess games in 2025, up from 0.033% (its peak: 0.049% in 2018).

0.033%0.041%0.049%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.033%	11,729
2017	0.042%	23,384
2018	0.049%	38,830
2019	0.042%	52,227
2020	0.039%	113,626
2021	0.03%	118,618
2022	0.031%	115,212
2023	0.034%	129,730
2024	0.039%	138,848
2025	0.041%	141,561
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.042%	46,102

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: Wing Gambit (C00)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-wing-gambit