Sicilian Defense: French Variation, Normal
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
3,789,014 games: White 44.0% / Draw 5.4% / Black 50.6%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 2,910,2382.9M | ||
| 452,703453K | ||
| 166,317166K | ||
| 109,430109K | ||
| 88,37988K | ||
| 14,68615K | ||
| 9,1339,133 | ||
| 5,7125,712 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 9, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.37 White is slightly better
Best play: 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. e5 Nd5 8. Ne4 Bb7 9. Be2 c5
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: Black scores 53% under 1400, 51% at 2200 and up and 44% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 130K | |
| 1400–1799 | 1.1M | |
| 1800–2199 | 2.3M | |
| 2200 and up | 695K | |
| Masters, over the board | 18K |
Master games
- Caruana, F. – Grischuk, A.
- Carlsen, M. – Mamedyarov, S.
- Caruana, F. – Giri, A.
- Nakamura, H. – Carlsen, M.
- Caruana, F. – Mamedyarov, S.
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 26, 2026
Overview
Sicilian Defense: French Variation, Normal (ECO B40, Semi-Open Games) is a variation of the Sicilian Defense: French Variation, Open, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 (4 moves).
In 3,789,014 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 44.0%, Black 50.6% and 5.4% were drawn. White's most played move here is 5. Nc3, in 77% of those games.
It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation and Sicilian Defense: Pin Variation. In all, 14 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 Sicilian Defense: French Variation, Normal
5. Bd3 scores best for White: 48.5%, with White winning 45.5% and Black 48.6% of 453K games. The most played answer, 5. Nc3, scores lowest: 47.1% in 2.9M games. Stockfish's first choice is 5. Nc3.
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 Sicilian Defense: French Variation, Normal peaked in 2018 at 0.2% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.14% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.15% | 55,013 |
| 2017 | 0.18% | 97,038 |
| 2018 | 0.2% | 155,557 |
| 2019 | 0.18% | 222,951 |
| 2020 | 0.17% | 512,073 |
| 2021 | 0.14% | 560,241 |
| 2022 | 0.13% | 495,237 |
| 2023 | 0.13% | 506,730 |
| 2024 | 0.14% | 500,153 |
| 2025 | 0.14% | 471,825 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.14% | 149,373 |
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 (3)
All 14 named lines that continue from here
- B40 Sicilian Defense: Gaw-Paw Variation 5 moves
- B40 Sicilian Defense: Pin Variation 5 moves
- B80 Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation 5 moves
- B40 Jaffe Variation 6 moves
- B40 Koch Variation 6 moves
- B83 Classical Variation 6 moves
- B80 Fianchetto Variation 6 moves
- B81 Keres Attack 6 moves
- B82 Matanovic Attack 6 moves
- B80 Vitolins Variation 6 moves
- B86 Sicilian Defense: Sozin Attack 6 moves
- B83 Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Modern Variation 9 moves
- B82 Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Tal Variation 8 moves
- B83 Modern Variation 10 moves
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Sicilian Defense: French Variation, Normal (B40)”. Lichess data as of 9 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/sicilian-defense-french-variation-normal