French Defense (C00): win rates at club level
1.e4 e6, playing as black. Data from 11,261 Lichess blitz games at 1600-1800.
The position
The idea
Black prepares d5 without committing the light-squared bishop first, accepting that it may stay boxed in behind its own pawns for a while. After the common continuation d4 d5 e5, White typically gets more space and kingside attacking chances, while Black’s plan is to attack that pawn chain at both ends - c5 against its base, f6 against its head - rather than contest the center head-on.
How it scores at your rating
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| Rating band | Games | White / draw / Black | Score for black |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1400-1600 | 9,446 | 48.4%Win rate: 95 percent confidence interval 47.4 to 49.4 percent, 9,446 games. / 3.5%Draw rate: 95 percent confidence interval 3.1 to 3.9 percent, 9,446 games. / 48.1%Loss rate: 95 percent confidence interval 47.1 to 49.1 percent, 9,446 games. | 49.8%Score for black: 95 percent confidence interval 48.8 to 50.8 percent, 9,446 games. |
| 1600-1800 | 11,261 | 47.9%Win rate: 95 percent confidence interval 47.0 to 48.8 percent, 11,261 games. / 4.2%Draw rate: 95 percent confidence interval 3.8 to 4.6 percent, 11,261 games. / 48.0%Loss rate: 95 percent confidence interval 47.1 to 48.9 percent, 11,261 games. | 50.0%Score for black: 95 percent confidence interval 49.1 to 50.9 percent, 11,261 games. |
| 1800-2000 | 9,907 | 48.1%Win rate: 95 percent confidence interval 47.1 to 49.1 percent, 9,907 games. / 4.9%Draw rate: 95 percent confidence interval 4.5 to 5.3 percent, 9,907 games. / 46.9%Loss rate: 95 percent confidence interval 45.9 to 47.9 percent, 9,907 games. | 49.4%Score for black: 95 percent confidence interval 48.4 to 50.4 percent, 9,907 games. |
| 2000+ | 7,689 | 48.2%Win rate: 95 percent confidence interval 47.1 to 49.3 percent, 7,689 games. / 6.6%Draw rate: 95 percent confidence interval 6.0 to 7.2 percent, 7,689 games. / 45.1%Loss rate: 95 percent confidence interval 44.0 to 46.2 percent, 7,689 games. | 48.4%Score for black: 95 percent confidence interval 47.3 to 49.5 percent, 7,689 games. |
What white actually plays next
Top replies at 1600-1800:
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| Move | Games | Played | Win / draw / loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| d4 | 5,022 | 44.6% | 48.2%Win rate: 95 percent confidence interval 46.9 to 49.6 percent, 5,022 games. / 4.1%Draw rate: 95 percent confidence interval 3.6 to 4.7 percent, 5,022 games. / 47.7%Loss rate: 95 percent confidence interval 46.3 to 49.0 percent, 5,022 games. |
| Nf3 | 3,211 | 28.5% | 47.0%Win rate: 95 percent confidence interval 45.3 to 48.7 percent, 3,211 games. / 4.6%Draw rate: 95 percent confidence interval 3.9 to 5.4 percent, 3,211 games. / 48.4%Loss rate: 95 percent confidence interval 46.7 to 50.2 percent, 3,211 games. |
| f4 | 719 | 6.4% | 49.2%Win rate: 95 percent confidence interval 45.6 to 52.9 percent, 719 games. / 2.4%Draw rate: 95 percent confidence interval 1.5 to 3.8 percent, 719 games. / 48.4%Loss rate: 95 percent confidence interval 44.8 to 52.1 percent, 719 games.Wide interval, small sample: treat this number cautiously. |
| Nc3 | 698 | 6.2% | 49.6%Win rate: 95 percent confidence interval 45.9 to 53.3 percent, 698 games. / 4.3%Draw rate: 95 percent confidence interval 3.0 to 6.1 percent, 698 games. / 46.1%Loss rate: 95 percent confidence interval 42.5 to 49.8 percent, 698 games.Wide interval, small sample: treat this number cautiously. |
| Bc4 | 540 | 4.8% | 45.0%Win rate: 95 percent confidence interval 40.9 to 49.2 percent, 540 games. / 5.0%Draw rate: 95 percent confidence interval 3.5 to 7.2 percent, 540 games. / 50.0%Loss rate: 95 percent confidence interval 45.8 to 54.2 percent, 540 games.Wide interval, small sample: treat this number cautiously. |
| d3 | 277 | 2.5% | 44.8%Win rate: 95 percent confidence interval 39.0 to 50.7 percent, 277 games. / 5.1%Draw rate: 95 percent confidence interval 3.0 to 8.3 percent, 277 games. / 50.2%Loss rate: 95 percent confidence interval 44.3 to 56.0 percent, 277 games.Wide interval, small sample: treat this number cautiously. |
Common mistakes at 1600-1800
No move at this band is both common and clearly low-scoring, controlling for rating gap. Players at this rating aren’t making an obvious mistake here.
Model games
Real games from the Lichess masters database.
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| White | Black | Result | Year | Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlsen (2875) | Grischuk (2775) | 1-0 | 2019 | View game |
| So (2815) | Carlsen (2832) | ½-½ | 2017 | View game |
| Caruana (2817) | So (2822) | 0-1 | 2017 | View game |
| Carlsen (2882) | Rapport (2747) | 1-0 | 2019 | View game |
| Aronian (2781) | Carlsen (2847) | 1-0 | 2021 | View game |
Build a repertoire from here
See the full move tree for players in your rating band: 1600-1800 repertoire explorer (black) →