French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Advance Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5
The French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Advance Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C12, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move. 6 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 733 times by this move order. White won 45%, 8% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 5… h6 (98% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.30 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 5… h6 6. Bd2 Bxc3 7. bxc3 Ne4 8. Qg4)
- ECO
- C12
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp2ppp/4pn2/3pP1B1/1b1P4/2N5/PPP2PPP/R2QKBNR b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 8 | |
| 1500-1999 | 211 | |
| 2000+ | 514 | |
| All | 733 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… h6 | 717 (98%) | |
| 5… Bxc3+ | 12 (2%) | |
| 5… h5 | 1 (0%) | |
| 5… Nbd7 | 1 (0%) | |
| 5… Ne4 | 1 (0%) | |
| 5… c5 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
31 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 52%, draw 19%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- GM Max Warmerdam (2595) – IM Renato Terry (2504) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 12th Oct · 2021-10-12
- GM Jose Carlos Ibarra Jerez (2563) – IM Renato Terry (2520) 1/2-1/2 · ChessKid Cup Play-In · 2023-05-01
- GM Andrey Stukopin (2564) – GM Ulvi Bajarani (2458) 1/2-1/2 · Cherry Blossom Classic · 2021-05-31
- GM Diego Valerga (2443) – IM Mario Villanueva (2450) 1/2-1/2 · 95th ch-ARG 2021 · 2021-12-12
- IM Max Warmerdam (2506) – FM Edoardo Di Benedetto (2386) 1-0 · 5th Vergani Cup Jan 2021 · 2021-01-06
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Kruciatos (2698) – Haunting_Games (2651) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- CM chess23time (2666) – CM PchelkinVK (2664) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- RoryMcCann (2666) – CM PchelkinVK (2655) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: McCutcheon Variation 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4
Continuations
- French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Bernstein Variation C12 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Bh4
- French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Chigorin Variation C12 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. exf6
- French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Dr. Olland Variation C12 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Bc1
- French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Janowski Variation C12 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Be3
- French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Lasker Variation (6. Bd2 Bxc3) C12 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Bd2 Bxc3
- French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Tartakower Variation C12 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Bd2 Nfd7
More French Defense lines (all)
- French Defense (1. e4 e6) C00
- French Defense (2. d4 d5) C00
- French Defense: Alapin Gambit C00
- French Defense: Baeuerle Gambit C00
- French Defense: Banzai-Leong Gambit C00
- French Defense: Banzai-Leong Gambit, Pinova Gambit C00
- French Defense: Bird Invitation C00
- French Defense: Carlson Gambit C00
- French Defense: Chigorin Variation C00
- French Defense: Diemer-Duhm Gambit C00
- French Defense: Diemer-Duhm Gambit Accepted C00
- French Defense: Franco-Hiva Gambit C00
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.