French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Lasker Variation (6. Bd2 Bxc3)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Bd2 Bxc3
The French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Lasker 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. Bd2 Bxc3. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 321 times by this move order. White won 51%, 6% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 7. bxc3 (80% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.34 (Stockfish, depth 45; best line 7. bxc3 Ne4 8. Qg4 g6 9. h4 c5)
- ECO
- C12
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp2pp1/4pn1p/3pP3/3P4/2b5/PPPB1PPP/R2QKBNR w KQkq - 0 7- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Bd2 Bxc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 57 | |
| 2000+ | 264 | |
| All | 321 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. bxc3 | 256 (80%) | |
| 7. Bxc3 | 64 (20%) | |
| 7. exf6 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
1,015 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 23%, Black 39%). The strongest:
- GM Dmitrij Kollars (2644) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2807) 0-1 · Titled Tue 15th Jul Early · 2025-07-15
- GM Yangyi Yu (2728) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2688) 0-1 · World Rapid 2022 · 2022-12-28
- GM Elham Amar (2600) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2807) 0-1 · Titled Tue 15th Jul Early · 2025-07-15
- GM Ernesto Inarkiev (2693) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2707) 0-1 · Siberian Bank Cup · 2012-11-18
- GM David Paravyan (2617) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2773) 1-0 · Chess.com Rapid Wk9 Swiss · 2022-04-09
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Kruciatos (2698) – Haunting_Games (2651) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- RoryMcCann (2666) – CM PchelkinVK (2655) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- AstorMonserrat (2701) – FM master05 (2564) 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, Lasker Variation (8. Qg4 g6) C12 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Bd2 Bxc3 7. bxc3 Ne4 8. Qg4 g6
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.