French Defense: Advance Variation
Chess opening · ECO C02 · 5 half-moves
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5
The French Defense: Advance Variation is reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5. It is Black's move in the position shown.
It branches from the French Defense: Normal Variation with 2… d5 3. e5.
How often it is played
The French Defense: Advance Variation and its variations appeared in 0.95% of games — 28,644 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 54 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 47%, 3.7% were drawn and Black won 49%. These are games between players of every strength and time control, so they say how the opening does in practice rather than how sound it is.
What the engine thinks
Stockfish, at depth 18, evaluates the position at +0.26 — a small edge for White. Positive numbers favour White; see reading the evaluation bar.
Similar openings
The most-played alternatives — what else could have been chosen around the move where this opening begins.
| Opening | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| French Defense: Exchange Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 | 1.3% |
| French Defense: Paulsen Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 | 0.65% |
| French Defense: Franco-Sicilian Defense | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 c5 | 0.21% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| French Defense: Advance Variation, Paulsen Attack | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 | 0.30% |
| French Defense: Advance Variation, Nimzowitsch System | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Nf3 | 0.17% |
| French Defense: Advance Variation, Steinitz Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 | 0.02% |
| French Defense: Advance Variation, Kupreichik Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Be3 | 0.02% |
| French Defense: Advance Variation, Extended Bishop Swap | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bd7 | 0.01% |
| French Defense: Advance Variation, Wade Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Qb6 5. Nf3 Bd7 | 0.01% |
| French Defense: Advance Variation, Nimzowitsch Attack | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Qg4 | 0.01% |
| French Defense: Advance Variation, Frenkel Gambit | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. b4 | 0.00% |
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