French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Janowski Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Be3
The French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Janowski 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. Be3. 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 41 times by this move order. White won 41%, 13% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 6… Ne4 (83% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.19 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 6… Ne4 7. Qg4 g6 8. a3 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3)
- ECO
- C12
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp2pp1/4pn1p/3pP3/1b1P4/2N1B3/PPP2PPP/R2QKBNR b KQkq - 1 6- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Be3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 4 | |
| 2000+ | 37 | |
| All | 41 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Ne4 | 34 (83%) | |
| 6… Bxc3+ | 4 (10%) | |
| 6… Nfd7 | 3 (7%) |
Master games
353 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 20%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2744) – IM Renato Terry (2526) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 16th Jul Late · 2024-07-16
- GM Levon Aronian (2725) – IM Renato Terry (2522) 1-0 · Titled Tue 23rd Jan Late · 2024-01-23
- GM Pavel Ponkratov (2605) – GM Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen (2625) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Rapid 2013 · 2013-06-06
- GM Mateusz Bartel (2627) – GM Daniele Vocaturo (2579) 0-1 · 17th Dubai Chess Open · 2015-04-11
- GM Dariusz Swiercz (2622) – GM Jacek Tomczak (2564) 1-0 · ch-POL 2013 · 2013-04-20
Highest-rated Lichess games
- CM chess23time (2666) – CM PchelkinVK (2664) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- vwemby (2614) – gsg_1999 (2625) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- CM chess23time (2634) – WFM haski_2014 (2592) 1-0 · 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
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.