C11 · Semi-Open · a defense for Black

French Defense: Steinitz Variation, Boleslavsky Variation

13/13
1.e4e62.d4d53.Nc3Nf64.e5Nfd75.f4c56.Nf3Nc67.Be3
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
French Defense: Steinitz Variation, Boleslavsky Variation773k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
39%299k47%
27%207k48%
16%121k51%
12%94k51%
1.7%13k45%
1.3%10k44%
1%7.6k42%
0.7%5.4k47%
0.4%3.5k51%
0.4%2.8k52%
Famous games in this line13k master games
Karjakin, Sergey (2750) – Carlsen, M. (2882)20191–0Kasparov, G. (2812) – Caruana, F. (2807)20170–1Caruana, F. (2764) – Carlsen, M. (2853)20231–0Carlsen, Magnus (2837) – Morozevich, Alexander (2770)20121–0Dominguez Perez, Leinier (2758) – Caruana, Fabiano (2835)20200–1Karjakin, Sergey (2776) – Carlsen, Magnus (2815)2011½–½Aronian, L. (2767) – Caruana, F. (2822)20181–0Gukesh, D. (2732) – Carlsen, M. (2856)20221–0
Heroes of this opening Caruana, Fabiano · Karjakin, Sergey · Carlsen, Magnus · Aronian, L.
Family
French Defense
Category
Semi-Open
First move
1.e4
ECO
C11
Line
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3
★ Read the guide: French DefenseExplore all 212 French Defense lines →
Keep exploring
Nearby lines in the family
French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Capablanca LineC10 3…dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6 …French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Kasparov AttackC10 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 …French Defense: Classical Variation, Alapin VariationC14 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.Bxe7 Qxe7 …
From the archives

In 1834 the city of Paris beat the city of London in a correspondence match opening with 1...e6, and the defense has carried the name ever since. Botvinnik and Korchnoi built careers on its cramped-then-counterpunch character: concede space, then break with ...c5 or ...f6 at the right moment.

Study this opening
Videos on YouTube ↗Wikipedia: French Defense ↗