French Knight: Win Rate by Lichess Rating

French Defense: Knight Variation · 1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 · CC0 name list

At 1500–1799 (Lichess rating), White scored 49.5% in 31,806 French Defense: Knight Variation games (±0.5; games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026).

White won 47.7% of them, Black won 48.6%, and 3.7% were drawn.

No clear difference from 50% at this level (inside the margin)

In games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026, White scored 49.5% (±0.5) with the French Defense: Knight Variation in sampled Lichess games at the 1500–1799 Lichess rating level (31,806 games). Observed results, not causation.

Data period: games from 1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026 (sample of the Lichess open database) · Page updated: 9 Oct 2026

52.7%

White's score at Lichess rating 2100+ · 7,792 games, Oct 2025–Sep 2026 sample

White scores 52.7% at 2100+ and 49.5% at 1500–1799.

Position after 1.e4 e6 2.Nf3. 101,330 games in this sample reached it — 2,482 of them by a different move order.

At a glance

In this sample, White's score ranged from 49.5% (1500–1799) to 52.7% (2100+).
Treat this spread with caution: the margins are approximate (see How it works).
It appeared most often in the 1200–1499 group (2.1% of that group's games).
Draws were most common in the 2100+ group (5.1%).

These are observed results for the selected games (rated, players within 200 rating points of each other). They describe what happened — they do not prove the opening caused the result.

Results by Lichess rating level

Each row shows how the French Defense: Knight Variation games at one rating level ended: White wins, draws and Black wins, across all time controls combined. Rating level is the average Lichess rating of both players.

White won drawn Black won. French Defense: Knight Variation — results by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined (minimum 300 games per row).

Under 120014,313 games

White wins 48.9% · draws 3.3% · Black wins 47.8% · White's score 50.6% ±0.8 · how common 1.8%
1200–149925,367 games

White wins 48.2% · draws 3.1% · Black wins 48.7% · White's score 49.7% ±0.6 · how common 2.1%
1500–179931,806 gamesCompared with

White wins 47.7% · draws 3.7% · Black wins 48.6% · White's score 49.5% ±0.5 · how common 2.0%
1800–209922,052 games

White wins 48.0% · draws 4.6% · Black wins 47.4% · White's score 50.3% ±0.6 · how common 1.7%
2100+7,792 gamesIn the headline

White wins 50.1% · draws 5.1% · Black wins 44.8% · White's score 52.7% ±1.1 · how common 1.1%

"White's score" = wins + half of draws. "±" is an approximate 95% margin based only on the number of games. It does not cover sampling bias or related games (the same players appear many times), so real uncertainty is larger. "How common" = share of all sampled games at that level that reached this position. Ratings are Lichess ratings; they are not interchangeable with Chess.com or FIDE ratings.

Compare it with another choice from the same position, at the Lichess level and time control you choose: Compare in Find Your Opening (the comparison needs JavaScript)

Results by time control

Each row shows how the French Defense: Knight Variation games ended in one Lichess time control, across all rating levels combined.

French Defense: Knight Variation — results by time control, all rating levels combined (minimum 300 games per row)
Time control	Games	White wins	Draws	Black wins	White's score
Bullet	39,542	48.8%	2.8%	48.4%	50.2%
Blitz	46,343	47.9%	4.4%	47.7%	50.1%
Rapid	15,000	47.9%	4.5%	47.5%	50.2%
Classical	445	45.8%	5.6%	48.5%	48.7%

This table and the rating rows are separate summaries: rating levels are not split by time control here, and time controls are not split by rating. Observed results only; approximate uncertainty applies as above.

Most played replies for Black at each level

Top replies with at least 150 games. "Score" is Black's score after that reply (wins + half of draws). These comparisons alone can't show that one reply is reliably better — the margins are approximate and stronger or weaker players may prefer different replies.

Replies to 1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined
Rating level	Reply · share · games · score
Under 1200	2...d5 ·51.2% · 7,303 · 51.2% ±1.1 2...d6 ·6.5% · 922 · 51.6% ±3.2 2...Nf6 ·5.7% · 814 · 45.9% ±3.4
1200–1499	2...d5 ·56.9% · 14,409 · 51.4% ±0.8 2...c5 ·7.1% · 1,797 · 49.7% ±2.3 2...d6 ·6.4% · 1,624 · 50.2% ±2.4
1500–1799	2...d5 ·60.4% · 19,200 · 51.0% ±0.7 2...c5 ·8.8% · 2,811 · 48.7% ±1.8 2...c6 ·6.1% · 1,924 · 50.8% ±2.2
1800–2099	2...d5 ·68.1% · 15,011 · 50.1% ±0.8 2...c5 ·8.1% · 1,794 · 49.9% ±2.3 2...b6 ·4.9% · 1,083 · 48.0% ±2.9
2100+	2...d5 ·77.4% · 6,029 · 47.4% ±1.2 2...c5 ·6.4% · 497 · 45.9% ±4.3 2...b6 ·3.6% · 280 · 47.9% ±5.7

Up next: related positions with a page

Earlier position: French Defense 1.e4 e6
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 (King's Knight Opening)
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 (Italian Game)
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 (Bishop's Opening)

Other choices from the same position for White: each one's own level and score, as on its page
Opening	Lichess rating level	Games	White's score
vs French Defense: Normal Variation 1.e4 e6 2.d4	1500–1799	45,972	50.2% ±0.4

Each row is a separate page with its own games. A difference smaller than the two margins combined is no clear difference. Observed results, not causation.

Download these numbers: French Defense: Knight Variation (CSV), released under CC0. For move-by-move exploration with your own filters, see the free Lichess opening explorer. This independent page lists each rating level and each time control in its own row for comparison.