Opening name: French Defence
Opening line: 1. e4 e6 2. d4
Lichess Board
Wikibooks Page
Winning percentages
White: 44647 (35.22%)
Black: 29654 (23.4%)
Draws: 52449 (41.38%)
1. d4 - French Defence
One of the more common responses to Black's intended French Defence. White creates the ideal pawn center with pawns on d4 and e4. This allows White to control the center and develop Bishops and Queen actively. The French Defence goes on with 2... d5.
Most popular responses
2...d5 (French Defence) By advancing the d pawn two squares black poses an immediate challenge to the powerful white center. The white player must now react by either advancing the pawn which will lead to the advance variation where he/she will get to put immediate pressure on the black king side, but black will have more than enough to put the pawn wedge under serious attack with moves like c5, Nc6, Qb6 and Nh6 (followed obviously by Nf5). Lichess Analysis - Wikibooks (108940796 games)
2...c5 (Franco-Benoni Defence) Lichess Analysis - Wikibooks (15162448 games)
2...f5 (Kingston Defence) Lichess Analysis - Wikibooks (611755 games)
Engine Evaluation
Depth: 43
Score: +0.29
Best Move: d5
PV Line: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3
Historical games for French Defence
| Game | Result | Year |
| Carlsen, M. (2881) vs Caruana, F. (2791) | 1-0 | 2014 |
| Aronian, L. (2775) vs Carlsen, M. (2872) | 1/2-1/2 | 2019 |
| So, W. (2815) vs Carlsen, M. (2832) | 1/2-1/2 | 2017 |
| Caruana, F. (2817) vs So, W. (2822) | 0-1 | 2017 |
| Karjakin, Sergey (2750) vs Carlsen, M. (2882) | 1-0 | 2019 |
| Aronian, L.. (2781) vs Carlsen, M.. (2847) | 1-0 | 2021 |
| Giri, A. (2760) vs Carlsen, M. (2864) | 0-1 | 2022 |
| Karjakin, Sergey (2778) vs Carlsen, Magnus (2843) | 1/2-1/2 | 2012 |
| Kasparov, Garry (2851) vs Anand, Viswanathan (2769) | 1/2-1/2 | 2000 |
| Kasparov, Garry (2851) vs Anand, Viswanathan (2769) | 1-0 | 2000 |