C42

Petrov's Defense: French Attack

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Statistics from Lichess

458,036 games: White 46.7% / Draw 6.8% / Black 46.5%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	427,056427K
	26,48226K
	2,0922,092
	1,0771,077
	618618
	199199
	161161
	9090

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.11 The position is about equal

Best play: 5... Nf6 6. d4 d5 7. Bd3 Bd6 8. O-O O-O 9. Bg5 Bg4 10. Nbd2

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 57% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	216K
1400–1799	342K
1800–2199	240K
2200 and up	40K
Masters, over the board	804

Master games

Carlsen, M. – Caruana, F. ½–½, 2017
Carlsen, M. – Abdusattorov, N. ½–½, 2023
Anand, V. – Caruana, F. 0–1, 2018
Vachier Lagrave, M. – Nepomniachtchi, I. 0–1, 2020
So, W. – Aronian, L. ½–½, 2021

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

Petrov's Defense: French Attack (ECO C42, Open Games) is a variation of Petrov's Defense, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d3 (5 moves).

In 458,036 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 46.7%, Black 46.5% and 6.8% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 5…Nf6, in 93% of those games.

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Description

How to play against Petrov's Defense: French Attack

The most played answer, 5…Nf6, also scores best for Black: 50.4%, with Black winning 46.9% and White 46.2% of 427K games. Of the main answers, 5…Nc5 scores lowest: 46.8%. Stockfish's first choice is also 5…Nf6.

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

Petrov's Defense: French Attack peaked in 2018 at 0.021% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.015% in 2025.

0.015%0.015%0.021%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.015%	5,484
2017	0.017%	9,495
2018	0.021%	16,882
2019	0.021%	26,010
2020	0.021%	61,176
2021	0.018%	70,920
2022	0.017%	65,599
2023	0.017%	64,672
2024	0.017%	62,173
2025	0.015%	53,136
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.015%	16,399

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. “Petrov's Defense: French Attack (C42)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/petrovs-defense-french-attack