French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Chigorin Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. exf6
The French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Chigorin 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 h6 6. exf6. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 216 times by this move order. White won 36%, 8% were drawn and Black won 56%. The most popular continuation is 6… hxg5 (98% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.11 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 6… hxg5 7. fxg7 Rg8 8. a3 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3)
- ECO
- C12
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp2pp1/4pP1p/3p2B1/1b1P4/2N5/PPP2PPP/R2QKBNR b KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. exf6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4 | |
| 1500-1999 | 91 | |
| 2000+ | 121 | |
| All | 216 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… hxg5 | 212 (98%) | |
| 6… Bxc3+ | 2 (1%) | |
| 6… gxf6 | 2 (1%) |
Master games
168 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 24%, draw 20%, Black 56%). The strongest:
- GM Leon Livaic (2543) – GM Sasa Martinovic (2556) 1/2-1/2 · ch-CRO 2023 · 2023-12-06
- GM Ahmad Ahmadzada (2550) – IM S Aswath (2546) 0-1 · TCh-TUR 1st League 2026 · 2026-08-05
- IM Lennis Martinez Ramirez (2454) – GM Yago De Moura Santiago (2479) 0-1 · 31st Carlos Torre Mem · 2019-12-15
- IM Alexander Reprintsev (2330) – GM Jun Zhao (2600) 0-1 · Titled Tue 11th Oct Early · 2022-10-11
- IM Dmitrij Kollars (2491) – IM Arnd Lauber (2434) 1/2-1/2 · Bundesliga 2016-17 · 2017-05-01
Highest-rated Lichess games
- The_Knight_Road (2631) – Kcarv (2543) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- KM2200 (2540) – TheEssssjuuus (2556) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- brawlstars007 (2542) – NM Gnechko_Ruslan (2500) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Advance Variation 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5
Continuations
- French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Grigoriev Variation C12 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. exf6 hxg5 7. fxg7 Rg8 8. h4 gxh4 9. Qg4
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.