Commit to one Classical line
Choose 6.Bxe7 with 7.f4 or 6.h4 Alekhine-Chatard, and prep it to move 12 so your 67% start is built on a plan.
← queenssgamble / Openings
French Defense
You crush the French out of the opening, then let it slip.
Score62%+2% vs your average
Win chance after move 1267%+14% vs your average
Blunders per game1.00+0.23 vs your average
Clock left at move 109:34+1s vs your average
8
76
5
4
3
2
a1b
c
d
efgh1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5
What it says about you
Opponents choose the French, and you meet it with 3.Nc3 and the Classical 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5, the most principled and aggressive main line. That tells you're comfortable with theory and space-grabbing structures. The opening results back it up: win chance at move 12 is 67 against a 53 baseline, the best of any opening you play.
How you play it
You reach the e5 chain structure after 5.e5 Nfd7, and 4 games in the Normal Variation tag scored 100%. By move 20 you still have a big edge, with win chance 64 against a 52 baseline, but the final score is only 62% over 17 games. The leak is conversion: 9 of 14 winning positions converted (64%, against 78% overall). Blunders are 1.0 per game, and early errors are 0.29, both above your norms. The games are long, averaging 48 moves, and 2 of the 5 losses were decided in the endgame.
What you're missing
- 01
Converting French edges: 14 winning positions, only 9 wins. For an opening where you start at 67% win chance on move 12, that is the single biggest gap in this file.
- 02
Keeping the chain intact: 20.Nxd4 instead of cxd4 (39% to 12%) is the classic French mistake. Recapturing with the piece hands Black the ...f6 break and play against e5, while cxd4 keeps the d4-e5 chain.
- 03
Early tactics in your own space: 13.Qg4 walked into a fork (76% to 54%) when 13.Nf6+ was available. Your 0.29 early errors per game is well above what you make in the Sicilian or Four Knights.
- 04
Endgame technique: 43.Rb7 instead of Ra6 (50% to 12%) and 45.Bd1 instead of Bb5 (78% to 54%), with over 320 seconds on the clock both times, so the errors came from technique, not the clock.
How to improve it
- 01
In the Classical (5.e5 Nfd7), decide between 6.Bxe7 Qxe7 7.f4 a6 8.Nf3 c5 9.Qd2 Nc6 10.dxc5 and the sharper Alekhine-Chatard 6.h4. The first gives stable space and a kingside initiative. The second gives attacking chances that suit 10|0. Pick one and learn it to move 12.
- 02
The strategic rule for this structure is simple: keep d4 supported by pawns or pieces from c3 and f3, meet ...cxd4 with a pawn recapture whenever possible, and only give up d4 when ...f6 can't follow.
- 03
When you are winning, trade toward endings where the French bad bishop on c8 or d7 is Black's problem. Keep your good minor piece and exchange Black's active ones.
- 04
In queenside rook endgames, drill rook activity: Ra6-type rooks behind or beside the pawns instead of passive Rb7 placements.
Where it goes wrong
Your losses in this opening, by where and how the decisive mistake happened.
Phase of the decisive mistake
What the mistake was
Variations you reach
| Normal Variation | 4 | 100% |
Winning positions converted here: 64% (9 of 14).
Recent mistakes in this opening
Your move in red, Stockfish's in black.
876
5
4
32
a1b
c
de
fgh
vs ikidyounot24 (2216) · 12-01-26 →
8
76
5
4
32
a1
b
c
d
efgh
vs ikidyounot24 (2216) · 12-01-26 →
8
76
5
4
32
a1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
vs ikidyounot24 (2216) · 12-01-26 →
8
7
6
54
3
2
a1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
vs OLEG231168 (2144) · 04-01-26 →
Next steps
Keep the d4 chain
Review the 20.Nxd4 loss and make recapturing with the c-pawn your default in these structures.
Practise converting French edges
Play 5 training games from winning Classical French middlegames against an engine at 10 minutes, trading down into good-bishop endings.
Drill it
Puzzles built from your own mistakes in the French Defense, and every game you've played in it.