French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Tartakower Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Bd2 Nfd7
The French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Tartakower 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 Nfd7. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 35 times by this move order. White won 43%, 6% were drawn and Black won 51%. The most popular continuation is 7. Qg4 (46% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.80 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 7. Qg4 Bf8 8. Nf3 c5 9. dxc5 Nxc5)
- ECO
- C12
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/pppn1pp1/4p2p/3pP3/1b1P4/2N5/PPPB1PPP/R2QKBNR w KQkq - 2 7- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Bd2 Nfd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 11 | |
| 2000+ | 24 | |
| All | 35 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Qg4 | 16 (46%) | |
| 7. a3 | 8 (23%) | |
| 7. f4 | 4 (11%) | |
| 7. Nf3 | 2 (6%) | |
| 7. Nce2 | 2 (6%) | |
| 7. Bd3 | 1 (3%) | |
| 7. Nb5 | 1 (3%) | |
| 7. h4 | 1 (3%) |
Master games
41 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 51%, draw 17%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-4167c1e-BT4-6147500-it332 (3648) – Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-11-29
- Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) – LCZero 0.31-dag-4167c1e-BT4-6147500-it332 (3648) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-11-27
- Stoofvlees II b4 (3499) – LCZero 0.30-dag-8092b376-BT2-3 (3573) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-19
- LCZero 0.30-dag-8092b376-BT2-3 (3573) – Stoofvlees II b4 (3499) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-17
- KomodoDragon3.3 (3592) – StoofvleesII d2 (3479) 1-0 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-04-24
Highest-rated Lichess games
- SackOnTheKing930 (2699) – MIGV (2598) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- FM Giannatos (2470) – yopchess (2487) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- xiaoyang666 (2384) – TePart0 (2397) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
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.