Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e6/2. d4/2...d5/3. Nc3

French Defence: Main line
a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/4p3/3p4/3PP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR b
Moves: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3

French Defence: Main line

3.Nc3 is White's most popular move against the French at the top level, and is considered the most challenging option. White develops a piece and keeps the diagonals open for both bishops (unlike 3.Nd2, the Tarrasch Variation), as well as putting pressure on the d5 pawn and protecting the e4 pawn. Black has 4 main options now: Nf6 (The Classical Variation), Bb4 (The Winawer Variation), dxe4 (The Rubinstein Variation), and c5, entering into the Sicilian by some players or French with others with the Marshall Gambit.

Approximate Chances

Masters

White wins: 36% | Draw: 41% | Black wins: 23%

Lichess

White wins: 50% | Draw: 5% | Black Wins: 45%

Theory table

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation..

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3.Nc3
	3	4
Classical Defence	... Nf6	Bg5 Be7	=
Winawer Variation	... Bb4	e5 c5	=
Rubinstein variation	... dxe4	Nxe4 Nd7	=
Marshall Gambit	... c5	Nf3 Cxd4	=
	... ...	exd5 exd5	+/=

References

• Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.