Openings · C00–C19

French Defence

Supporting …d5 with a pawn: solid, sharp underneath, and famous for one bad bishop.

1.e4 e6played as Black

Play it through on the board below, and 6 moves into the main line.

Practise the line

You play Black; the other side answers on its own. Nothing here is saved or graded. The line runs on past the moves that define the opening and into the main line, because two moves is not a drill.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
h8
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Your move 1 of 40/4
  1. 1.e4e6
  2. 2.d4d5
  3. 3.Nc3Nf6
  4. 4.Bg5Be7

White is answering…

The idea

1…e6 prepares …d5 so the centre is challenged by a pawn rather than a piece. White usually has to decide on move three — push with e5, take with exd5, or defend the pawn with Nc3 or Nd2 — and each choice makes a different game.

The known problem is the bishop on c8, shut in by its own pawn on e6. Every good French player has a plan for it before the position needs one.

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level: named traps and the errors every coach corrects.

Leaving the bishop on c8

After 4…Nfd7
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
The mistake
Developing everything else and hoping the light-squared bishop will sort itself out.
Why it costs
It will not. This is the one structural weakness the French accepts in exchange for a solid centre, and the plans that make it fine are all deliberate ones.
Instead
Pick a route early: …b6 and …Ba6 to trade it off, …Bd7–b5, or a timely …f6 to open the position it is stuck behind.

Releasing the tension in the Advance

After 5…cxd4
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
The mistake
Taking on d4 to clarify the position.
Why it costs
The pawn on d4 is the base of White's chain and the thing your whole position is aimed at. Once you take, it is replaced by a pawn on d4 that is defended by a pawn on c3, and the pressure you spent four moves building has gone.
Instead
Keep piling on: …Qb6, …Nh6–f5, …Bd7. Take on d4 when it wins the pawn or wins a piece, not when it makes the position simpler to look at.

Castling into the bishop on d3

After 7.Bd3
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
The mistake
Castling short without noticing the bishop, queen and knight lining up at h7.
Why it costs
The Greek gift — Bxh7+ followed by Ng5+ and Qh5 — is a standard motif in exactly this structure, because Black's kingside is short of defenders and the pawn on e5 takes f6 away from the knight.
Instead
Count the attackers before castling. …h6 at the right moment, keeping a knight able to reach f6, or castling long, are all ordinary answers — the mistake is not looking.

In real games between beginners

  • 1 in 66games end with Black giving checkmate by move 15. In all openings: 1 in 54.
  • 1 in 54games end with Black getting checkmated by move 15. In all openings: 1 in 33.

From 20,012 Lichess games in this opening between players rated under 1200, blitz and slower, September 2026. How we counted.

What the engine says

After 1.e4 e6, these are White's six best moves according to Stockfish, with the bar showing White's chance of winning. The whole list sits within 3 percentage points of win chance: none of them is a mistake, and the choice is about the positions you want to play.

  1. d4+0.3
  2. Nc3+0.2
  3. Nf3+0.2
  4. c3+0.1
  5. Be2+0.0
  6. h3+0.0

The engine's main line from d4: d4 d5 Nc3 Nf6 e5 Nfd7 f4 c5.

Stockfish 18, depth 24. Scores are in pawns from White's side. Another engine or depth will move individual numbers a little; the picture does not change. How we check.

Where it fits

The lines out of it with pages of their own: French, Advance, French, Exchange, French, Tarrasch and French, Winawer.

Analyse a game you played in itAll openings