Sicilian Defense: French Variation, Open
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Statistics from Lichess
20,499,235 games: White 45.9% / Draw 4.9% / Black 49.2%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 18,688,37118.7M | ||
| Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Deferred | 965,102965K | |
| 645,486645K | ||
| 117,837118K | ||
| 25,87226K | ||
| 17,87818K | ||
| 9,4349,434 | ||
| 5,7355,735 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 11, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.45 White is slightly better
Best play: 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Ba7 7. Qe2 Nc6 8. Be3 Nge7
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 51% under 1400, 50% at 2200 and up and 47% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 1.3M | |
| 1400–1799 | 8M | |
| 1800–2199 | 12.3M | |
| 2200 and up | 2.9M | |
| Masters, over the board | 83K |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – Anand, V.
- Carlsen, M. – Caruana, F.
- Kasparov, G. – Kramnik, V.
- Nepomniachtchi, I. – Carlsen, M.
- Giri, A. – Carlsen, M.
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, Open (ECO B40, Semi-Open Games) is a variation of the Sicilian Defense: French Variation, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 (3 moves).
In 20,499,235 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 45.9%, Black 49.2% and 4.9% were drawn. White's most played move here is 4. Nxd4, in 91% of those games.
It branches into 6 named variations; the most played are Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation and Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation. In all, 50 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
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Popularity by year
The Sicilian Defense: French Variation, Open peaked in 2018 at 1.0% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.74% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.85% | 303,620 |
| 2017 | 0.93% | 514,421 |
| 2018 | 1.0% | 792,777 |
| 2019 | 0.94% | 1,178,538 |
| 2020 | 0.9% | 2,647,842 |
| 2021 | 0.78% | 3,047,449 |
| 2022 | 0.75% | 2,812,523 |
| 2023 | 0.74% | 2,798,992 |
| 2024 | 0.75% | 2,694,654 |
| 2025 | 0.74% | 2,557,857 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.74% | 808,259 |
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 (6)
Transpositions
All 50 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
- B40 Sicilian Defense: French Variation, Normal 4 moves
- B41 Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation 4 moves
- B40 Sicilian Defense: Kveinis Variation 4 moves
- B40 Sicilian Defense: Paulsen-Basman Defense 4 moves
- B40 Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Deferred 4 moves
- B44 Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation 4 moves
- B40 Sicilian Defense: Gaw-Paw Variation 5 moves
- B43 Knight Variation 5 moves
- B41 Maróczy Bind, Réti Variation 5 moves
- B42 Modern Variation 5 moves
- B40 Sicilian Defense: Pin Variation 5 moves
- B80 Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation 5 moves
- B45 Taimanov Variation 5 moves
- B44 Szén Variation 5 moves
- B45 Sicilian Defense: Four Knights Variation 5 moves
- B42 Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation, Gipslis Variation 7 moves
- B41 Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation, Maróczy Bind, Bronstein Variation 7 moves
- B41 Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation, Maróczy Bind, Hedgehog Variation 5 moves
- B42 Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation, Polugaevsky Variation 5 moves
- B42 Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation, Swiss Cheese Variation 5 moves
- B43 Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation, Wing Attack 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
- B83 Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Modern Variation 6 moves
- B80 Vitolins Variation 6 moves
- B86 Sicilian Defense: Sozin Attack 6 moves
- B46 Taimanov Variation 5 moves
- B47 Bastrikov Variation 5 moves
- B44 Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation, Gary Gambit 8 moves
- B44 Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation, Modern Line 10 moves
- B45 American Attack 7 moves
- B45 Cobra Variation 6 moves
- B45 Exchange Variation 6 moves
- B45 Sveshnikov Transfer 6 moves
- B41 Bronstein Variation 8 moves
- B43 Christiansen's Dream 8 moves
- B43 Spraggett Attack 7 moves
- B85 Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Classical Main Line 10 moves
- B85 Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Classical Variation, Paulsen Variation 9 moves
- B85 Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Classical Variation, Paulsen Variation 10 moves
- B83 Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Modern Variation 9 moves
- B82 Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Tal Variation 8 moves
- B48 English Attack 6 moves
- B47 Ponomariov Gambit 8 moves
- B83 Modern Variation 10 moves
- B49 Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation, Bastrikov Variation 7 moves
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Sicilian Defense: French Variation, Open (B40)”. Lichess data as of 11 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/sicilian-defense-french-variation-open