French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Grigoriev Variation
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
The French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Grigoriev 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 hxg5 7. fxg7 Rg8 8. h4 gxh4 9. Qg4. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4 times by this move order. White won 50%, 0% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 9… Qf6 (75% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 9… Qf6 10. Rxh4 Nc6 11. Rh7 e5 12. dxe5)
- ECO
- C12
- Moves
- 17 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1r1/ppp2pP1/4p3/3p4/1b1P2Qp/2N5/PPP2PP1/R3KBNR b KQq - 1 9- PGN
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
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 4 | |
| All | 4 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9… Qf6 | 3 (75%) | |
| 9… e5 | 1 (25%) |
Master games
19 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 42%, Black 21%). The strongest:
- RubiChess20240420 (3531) – KomodoDragon3.3 (3592) 1-0 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-05-05
- KomodoDragon3.3 (3592) – RubiChess20240420 (3531) 1-0 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-05-03
- IM Ernesto Fernandez Romero (2468) – GM Jose Carlos Ibarra Jerez (2510) 1/2-1/2 · 25th Roquetas de Mar Open · 2014-01-05
- IM Nodar Lortkipanidze (2359) – CM Georgijs Germanovs (2255) 0-1 · Titled Tue 4th Mar Early · 2025-03-04
- Manuel Francisco Rodriguez Garcia (2174) – FM Inigo Lopez Mulet (2403) 0-1 · Lisbon Christmas Op 2014 · 2014-12-27
Highest-rated Lichess games
- unknownbishop (2251) – revoltp (2222) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- Sans_voir (2197) – Guy_de_Enpassant (2228) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Jugadorbisonio (2194) – Mazzaiazz_3000 (2199) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Chigorin Variation 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. exf6
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.