French Defense: McCutcheon Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4
The French Defense: McCutcheon Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C12, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 877 times by this move order. White won 45%, 7% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 5. e5 (84% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.49 (Stockfish, depth 54; best line 5. e5 h6 6. Bd2 Bxc3 7. bxc3 Ne4)
- ECO
- C12
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp2ppp/4pn2/3p2B1/1b1PP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R2QKBNR w KQkq - 4 5- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 16 | |
| 1500-1999 | 240 | |
| 2000+ | 621 | |
| All | 877 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. e5 McCutcheon Variation, Advance Variation | 733 (84%) | |
| 5. exd5 McCutcheon Variation, Exchange Variation | 46 (5%) | |
| 5. Ne2 | 45 (5%) | |
| 5. Bxf6 | 18 (2%) | |
| 5. a3 | 15 (2%) | |
| 5. Bd3 | 12 (1%) | |
| 5. Nf3 | 2 (0%) | |
| 5. Qf3 | 2 (0%) |
Master games
179 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 27%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Jose Carlos Ibarra Jerez (2567) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2778) 0-1 · Titled Tue 28th Nov Early · 2023-11-28
- GM Jeffery Xiong (2709) – IM Renato Terry (2504) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 26th Jan · 2021-01-26
- GM Yuri Solodovnichenko (2576) – GM Alberto David (2548) 0-1 · TCh-FRA Top 12 2017 · 2017-05-27
- GM Sina Movahed (2596) – IM Renato Terry (2508) 0-1 · 1st 3-0 Thu 20th Nov 2025 · 2025-11-20
- GM Zoran Jovanovic (2533) – GM Sasa Martinovic (2551) 1/2-1/2 · ch-CRO 2017 · 2017-05-01
Search all games of the French Defense: McCutcheon Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Kruciatos (2698) – Haunting_Games (2651) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- CM chess23time (2666) – CM PchelkinVK (2664) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- RoryMcCann (2666) – CM PchelkinVK (2655) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Classical Variation (3… Nf6 4. Bg5) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5
Continuations
- French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Advance Variation C12 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5
- French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Exchange Variation C12 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. exd5
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.