French Defense: Tarrasch Variation

ECO C03-C09intermediate

With 3.Nd2 White develops the knight where it cannot be pinned by ...Bb4 and keeps the c-pawn free to support d4. The Tarrasch trades a little ambition for a lot of solidity: against 3...Nf6 4.e5 White gets a favorable space-edge structure, while the liberating 3...c5 leads to isolated-queen-pawn positions after exd5 that are a cornerstone of classical chess understanding. Karpov used the White side as a positional squeeze for years.

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Main line

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Diagram shows the position after 6 half-moves of the main line. On SpeakChess you can drill this line move by move — the trainer plays the other side and corrects you instantly, then spaced repetition schedules each variation so you review it right before you would forget it.

Move by move

The first 12 moves of the main line, explained one at a time. Every move of every variation is annotated like this inside the trainer — this page shows the opening moves so you can judge the explanations before signing up.

Right out of the gate, the pawn strides forward to e4, planting a flag in the middle of the board. Owning the center like this gives your other pieces room to stretch out later. A bold, friendly way to start the game!
Black advances the pawn one square, controlling central space and preparing for future piece development.
This is a strong, principled move. By advancing your d-pawn two squares, you immediately establish a powerful pawn center with e4 and d4. This is the standard and best response against Black's French Defense (1...e6), opening lines for your pieces.
Black moves a pawn from its home square to the middle of the board. This is a strong start because it helps control the important middle squares.
White moves their knight from b1 to d2. This is a good developing move that brings the knight into the game.
Black moves their knight from g8 to f6. This is a good developing move, which means you are bringing your pieces into the game.
White moves the pawn up one square from e4 to e5. This helps control the key middle squares of the board, which is a strong and brave opening idea!
The black knight moves from f6 to d7. It's a simple step back to a safe spot.
White moves their bishop from f1 to d3. This is a good developing move to get a piece into the game!
Black moves a pawn from its home square, c7, forward to c5. This is a good, bold move! It pushes the pawn two squares into the middle of the board.
The pawn nudges forward to c3, a dark square. It quietly props up your big pawn on d4, building a sturdy little wall in the center. Small, calm moves like this make your position solid and hard to push around.
Black moves their knight from b8 to c6. This is a good developing move that helps bring a piece into the game.

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Win rates by rating

Results from real online games, measured after the line shown in each row. Most opening sites show one aggregate number — how an opening scores depends heavily on who is playing it.

Rating	Games	White wins	Draws	Black wins	Position after
400-600	464	44.2%	7.5%	48.3%	1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5
600-800	45	60%	0%	40%	1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5
800-1000	34	52.9%	2.9%	44.1%	1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3
1000-1200	87	62.1%	1.1%	36.8%	1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7
1200-1400	646	54.2%	1.5%	44.3%	1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6
1400-1600	3,071	56.7%	1.7%	41.6%	1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6
1600-1800	1,397	53%	3%	44%	1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6
1800-2000	4,535	53.8%	3.8%	42.4%	1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6
2000-2200	6,838	52.6%	4.2%	43.2%	1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6
2200-2400	3,961	48.6%	5.8%	45.6%	1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6

Most played continuations (2000-2200 rating)

After 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6:

Ne2 — played 76.7% of the time (White wins 52.1%, draws 4.5%, Black wins 43.4%)
Ngf3 — played 16.5% of the time (White wins 54.6%, draws 3.3%, Black wins 42.1%)
Ndf3 — played 5.4% of the time (White wins 55.4%, draws 3.5%, Black wins 41%)

Related openings

Frequently asked questions

Why play 3.Nd2 instead of 3.Nc3?

To avoid the Winawer entirely — ...Bb4 now achieves nothing since c3 remains available. The cost is the knight temporarily blocks the c1 bishop, which is why Black's most direct equalizing try is the immediate 3...c5 strike.

What kind of game should Black expect against the Tarrasch?

After 3...c5 4.exd5 exd5, Black gets free piece play with an isolated d-pawn — active middlegame, slightly worse endgame. After 3...Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7, it is a classic French chain battle where Black hits d4 with ...c5 and ...Qb6 while White attacks with f4-f5.