French Defense: Queen's Knight
Chess opening · ECO C00 · 3 half-moves
1. e4 e6 2. Nc3
The French Defense: Queen's Knight is reached after 1. e4 e6 2. Nc3. It is Black's move in the position shown.
It branches from the French Defense with 2. Nc3.
How often it is played
The French Defense: Queen's Knight and its variations appeared in 0.26% of games — 7,765 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 152 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 49%, 3.4% were drawn and Black won 47%. 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 +0.44 — 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: Knight Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 | 1.0% |
| French Defense: La Bourdonnais Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. f4 | 0.25% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| French Defense: Pelikan Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. f4 | 0.02% |
| French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Duras Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Bd2 Bxc3 7. bxc3 Ne4 8. Qg4 Kf8 9. Bc1 | 0.00% |
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