Piece Pattern Atlas
French Defense
Where each piece lives in the middlegame that follows, drawn from 30,366 real games.
Its usual journeys
- g8–f68,521 games
- g8–f6–e42,623 games
- g8–e72,365 games
- g8 · stays home2,130 games
When it leaves the board
Usually traded around move 15.
Survives past move 30 in 29% of games.
Most common end: f6, move 6 (495 games).
What its fate costs
Traded early (by move 8): Black wins 50%. Kept: 51%. (n=2,752 / 27,614)
When it reaches f6: Black wins 52%. When it never does: 51%. (n=18,390 / 11,976)
The choice
Move 2: d4 or Nf3?
Same opening, two futures for the g8-knight. Real games, side by side.
d4
After d4, the g8-knight spends 6% of the middlegame on d7; after Nf3, 2%. Black scores 52% here (n=14,457).
Nf3
After Nf3, the g8-knight spends 37% of the middlegame on f6; after d4, 24%. Black scores 51% here (n=7,984).