French Defense: Knight Variation
Chess opening · ECO C00 · 3 half-moves
1. e4 e6 2. Nf3
The French Defense: Knight Variation is reached after 1. e4 e6 2. Nf3. It is Black's move in the position shown.
It branches from the French Defense with 2. Nf3.
How often it is played
The French Defense: Knight Variation and its variations appeared in 1.0% of games — 30,355 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 49 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 48%, 3.6% were drawn and Black won 48%. 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 +0.28 — 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: Normal Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 | 3.9% |
| French Defense: Queen's Knight | 1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 | 0.26% |
| French Defense: La Bourdonnais Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. f4 | 0.25% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| French Defense: Two Knights Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 | 0.15% |
| French Defense: Wing Gambit | 1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e5 c5 4. b4 | 0.02% |
| French Defense: Knight Variation, Franco-Hiva Gambit | 1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 f5 | 0.01% |
Check your own games
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