French Variation

The French Variation, often called the French Sicilian, arises after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6. The name goes back to Carl Jaenisch, who classed 1...c5 followed by 2...e6 together with 1...e6 as French openings. The pawn move opens the f8-a3 diagonal for the dark-squared bishop and adds a second guard to d5, preparing ...d5 so that a recapture there can be made with a pawn. Unlike 2...d6 or 2...Nc6, it commits neither the d-pawn nor the queen's knight, leaving Black free to choose a system later. The drawback is that the c8-bishop is shut in behind the e6-pawn.

White's main answer, chosen in about half of all games, is 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4, the Open line, which frees both white bishops. From there Black selects among the Kan, Paulsen, Taimanov and Four Knights setups; 4...Nf6 is designated the Normal Variation. White can also delay the central break with 3. Nc3, a waiting move that the engine rates highly and that keeps open the option of d4 once Black has revealed a setup.

The anti-Sicilians here generally try to exploit the blocked c8-bishop. 3. Bb5, the standard sideline against 2...d6 and 2...Nc6, is less effective against 2...e6. 3. c3, the Delayed Alapin, supports d4 with the idea of keeping a pawn there; 3...Nf6 transposes to the Alapin, while 3...d5 4. e5 Nc6 5. d4 reaches a French Advance structure, although 4...d4 is considered the stronger reply to 4. e5. 3. Bc4 is played almost as often as 3. c3, but Black outscores White against it. 3. c4 is the Kramnik Variation, a Maroczy-type grip on d5 that can transpose to the Symmetrical English. 3. b3, the Westerinen Attack, prepares Bb2 and was used by Heikki Westerinen in the 1970s. 3. d3 leads to King's Indian Attack setups with g3 and Bg2, the scheme Fischer employed against Panno at Buenos Aires in 1970. 3. b4 is the Wing Gambit Deferred.

The position is among the most frequently reached named openings, appearing in over half a million Lichess games. Black wins slightly more often than White overall, and the engine regards the position as roughly balanced, with 3. Nc3, 3. d4 and 3. a3 as its preferred moves.