French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation (4. e5 c5)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5
The French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C17, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 3,921 times by this move order. White won 48%, 5% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 5. a3 (73% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.46 (Stockfish, depth 58; best line 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 Qc7)
- ECO
- C17
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1nr/pp3ppp/4p3/2ppP3/1b1P4/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 94 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,534 | |
| 2000+ | 2,293 | |
| All | 3,921 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. a3 Winawer Variation, Advance Variation (4… c5 5. a3) | 2,850 (73%) | |
| 5. Bd2 Winawer Variation, Bogoljubow Variation | 370 (9%) | |
| 5. Nf3 | 281 (7%) | |
| 5. Qg4 Winawer Variation, Advance Variation, Moscow Variation | 154 (4%) | |
| 5. Be3 | 80 (2%) | |
| 5. dxc5 | 72 (2%) | |
| 5. f4 | 56 (1%) | |
| 5. Bb5+ | 36 (1%) |
Master games
214 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 21%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2739) – GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2747) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz 2016 · 2016-12-29
- GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2752) – GM Richard Rapport (2730) 1/2-1/2 · 32nd ECC Open 2016 · 2016-11-09
- GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2758) – GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev (2569) 0-1 · World Blitz 2019 · 2019-12-29
- GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2758) – GM Steven Zierk (2509) 1-0 · PRO League Group Stage · 2020-01-27
- GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2738) – IM Matthew J Wadsworth (2481) 1-0 · FIDE World Bl Team Pool B · 2025-06-14
Search all games of the French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Tempstream (2755) – Americanchampion (2845) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Freerunning (2742) – kuhmft (2842) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Nana_jede_cevape (2865) – Ante373 (2662) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation (3… Bb4 4. e5) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5
Continuations
- French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation (4… c5 5. a3) C17 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3
- French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation, Moscow Variation C17 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. Qg4
- French Defense: Winawer Variation, Bogoljubow Variation C17 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. Bd2
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.