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French Defense · As Black · updated November 2026

Play the French like Aram Hakobyan

A repertoire in the French built from 69 of Aram Hakobyan's public Chess.com blitz games. At every position you play the move Aram Hakobyan chose most often. Where Aram Hakobyan has fewer than 3 games, the course takes the other top-50 players' most played move, then Stockfish's. Learn a line on the board, then each position comes back in a short daily review until it sticks.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Aram Hakobyan or Chess.com.

  • Aram Hakobyan was #34 in Chess.com blitz in November 2026 (3,226) and scored 51% against opponents averaging 3,148 in these games.
  • You play Aram Hakobyan's own move in 32 of 40 positions.
  • The whole course is free, and it is updated monthly.

Train lines

Learn a new line move by move. Lines due for review go to your daily review first.

Next: line 1

Free · first 5 lines need no account

Blitz rank

#34

Chess.com

Rating

3,226

Games

69

in this opening

Score

51%

in these games

Opponents

3,148

average rating

More about Aram Hakobyan

Use arrow keys to navigate the board. Press Enter to select a piece, then use arrow keys and Enter to move. Press Escape to cancel a move.
Line 1 after 26 moves

Lines to learn

  1. Line 1 · 9% at top level

    2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 9.Qd2 O-O 10.O-O-O Bxd4 11.Bxd4 Qa5 12.Kb1 Rb8 13.Ne2 Qxd2 14.Rxd2 b6

    Next

  2. Line 2 · 7% at top level

    2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Nce2 c5 6.c3 cxd4 7.cxd4 f6 8.exf6 Nxf6 9.Nf3 Nc6 10.Nc3 Bd6 11.Bd3 O-O 12.O-O Bd7

    New

  3. Line 3 · 7% at top level

    2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.Bxe7 Qxe7

    New

  4. Line 4 · 7% at top level

    2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Bd3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Qb6 8.O-O Nxd4 9.Nbd2 Nc6 10.Nb3 Nge7 11.Be3 Qc7

    New

  5. Line 5 · 6% at top level

    2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Be7 4.Ngf3 Nf6

    New

  6. Line 6 · 6% at top level

    2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Be7 4.c3 c5

    New

  7. Line 7 · 6% at top level

    2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Be7 4.e5 c5 5.c3 Nc6

    New

  8. Line 8 · 6% at top level

    2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Bd6

    New

Ordered by how often they come up in top-level games. Learned lines join your daily review.

Aram Hakobyan's main line in the French, move by move

The most common line at top level: 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 9.Qd2 O-O 10.O-O-O Bxd4 11.Bxd4 Qa5 12.Kb1 Rb8 13.Ne2 Qxd2 14.Rxd2 b6.

  1. 2.d4 Reply · Aram Hakobyan's games A common reply here is 2.d4. At top level, this comes up about 83% of the time.
  2. 2…d5 Your move · Aram Hakobyan's games Aram Hakobyan played 2…d5 in 53 games, scoring 57%.
  3. 3.Nc3 Reply · Aram Hakobyan's games A common reply here is 3.Nc3. At top level, this comes up about 39% of the time.
  4. 3…Nf6 Your move · Aram Hakobyan's games Aram Hakobyan played 3…Nf6 in 20 games, scoring 55%.
  5. 4.e5 Reply · Aram Hakobyan's games A common reply here is 4.e5. At top level, this comes up about 25% of the time.
  6. 4…Nfd7 Your move · Aram Hakobyan's games Aram Hakobyan played 4…Nfd7 in 13 games, scoring 54%.
  7. 5.f4 Reply · Aram Hakobyan's games A common reply here is 5.f4. At top level, this comes up about 16% of the time.
  8. 5…c5 Your move · Aram Hakobyan's games Aram Hakobyan played 5…c5 in 8 games, scoring 50%.
  9. 6.Nf3 Reply · Aram Hakobyan's games A common reply here is 6.Nf3.
  10. 6…Nc6 Your move · Aram Hakobyan's games Aram Hakobyan played 6…Nc6 in 6 games, scoring 33%.
  11. 7.Be3 Reply · Aram Hakobyan's games A common reply here is 7.Be3.
  12. 7…cxd4 Your move · Aram Hakobyan's games Aram Hakobyan played 7…cxd4 in 6 games, scoring 33%.
  13. 8.Nxd4 Reply · Aram Hakobyan's games A common reply here is 8.Nxd4.
  14. 8…Bc5 Your move · Aram Hakobyan's games Aram Hakobyan played 8…Bc5 in 5 games, scoring 30%.
  15. 9.Qd2 Reply · Aram Hakobyan's games A common reply here is 9.Qd2.
  16. 9…O-O Your move · Aram Hakobyan's games Aram Hakobyan played 9…O-O in 5 games, scoring 30%.
  17. 10.O-O-O Reply · Aram Hakobyan's games A common reply here is 10.O-O-O.
  18. 10…Bxd4 Your move · Aram Hakobyan's games Aram Hakobyan played 10…Bxd4 in 5 games, scoring 30%.
  19. 11.Bxd4 Reply · Aram Hakobyan's games A common reply here is 11.Bxd4.
  20. 11…Qa5 Your move · Aram Hakobyan's games Aram Hakobyan played 11…Qa5 in 5 games, scoring 30%.
  21. 12.Kb1 Reply · Aram Hakobyan's games A common reply here is 12.Kb1. At top level, this comes up about 12% of the time.
  22. 12…Rb8 Your move · Aram Hakobyan's games Aram Hakobyan played 12…Rb8 in 4 games, scoring 38%.
  23. 13.Ne2 Reply · Aram Hakobyan's games A common reply here is 13.Ne2. At top level, this comes up about 9% of the time.
  24. 13…Qxd2 Your move · Aram Hakobyan's games Aram Hakobyan played 13…Qxd2 in 3 games, scoring 17%.
  25. 14.Rxd2 Reply · Aram Hakobyan's games A common reply here is 14.Rxd2.
  26. 14…b6 Your move · Aram Hakobyan's games Aram Hakobyan played 14…b6 in 2 games, scoring 25%.

Questions about this course

How does Aram Hakobyan play the French?
After 1.e4 e6, Aram Hakobyan's most common line is 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 9.Qd2 O-O 10.O-O-O Bxd4 11.Bxd4 Qa5 12.Kb1 Rb8 13.Ne2 Qxd2 14.Rxd2 b6. At top level it comes up about 9% of the time.
Is this Aram Hakobyan's course?
No. ChessDrills builds it automatically from Aram Hakobyan's public Chess.com blitz games.
What is this French course based on?
69 of Aram Hakobyan's Chess.com blitz games in the French Defense as Black, against opponents with an average rating of 3,148. Aram Hakobyan scored 51% in them.
How many lines does the course have?
8 lines covering 40 positions, ordered by how often they come up in top-level games. The first 5 lines need no account; saving your progress with an email unlocks the rest, free.
Who is Aram Hakobyan?
GM Aram Hakobyan was ranked number 34 on the Chess.com blitz leaderboard with a rating of 3,226 when this course was built.

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