French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation (5… Bxc3+ 6. bxc3)

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3

The French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C18, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move. 5 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,034 times by this move order. White won 48%, 6% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 6… Ne7 (43% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.58 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 6… Ne7 7. Qg4 Nf5 8. Bd3 h5 9. Qf4)

ECO: C18
Moves: 11 plies
FEN: rnbqk1nr/pp3ppp/4p3/2ppP3/3P4/P1P5/2P2PPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 6
PGN: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	27	56%33%
1500-1999	606	50%44%
2000+	1,401	47%47%
All	2,034	48%46%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
6… Ne7 Winawer Variation, Advance Variation (6. bxc3 Ne7)	879 (43%)	46%48%
6… Qc7 Winawer Variation, Classical Variation	385 (19%)	45%48%
6… Nc6	333 (16%)	50%45%
6… Qa5 Winawer Variation, Portisch-Hook Variation	248 (12%)	47%47%
6… c4	83 (4%)	60%40%
6… cxd4	74 (4%)	65%31%
6… Qb6	9 (0%)	67%22%
6… Nd7	8 (0%)	63%37%

Master games

926 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 20%, Black 37%). The strongest:

LCZero 0.28-dev+_69626 (3623) – Stockfish 14_202107131735 (3639) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 21 Superfinal 2021 · 2021-07-27
Stockfish 14_202107131735 (3639) – LCZero 0.28-dev+_69626 (3623) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 21 Superfinal 2021 · 2021-07-27
GM Anish Giri (2764) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2859) 0-1 · World Blitz 2022 · 2022-12-29
GM Viswanathan Anand (2754) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2853) 0-1 · Global Chess League 2023 · 2023-06-28
GM Samuel Sevian (2694) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2837) 0-1 · Titled Tue 8th Apr Late · 2025-04-08

Search all games of the French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

Freerunning (2742) – kuhmft (2842) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
July16Q (2676) – BoneCrusher2020 (2735) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
evg85 (2798) – FM bomber1234 (2610) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation (4… c5 5. a3) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3

Continuations

French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation (6. bxc3 Ne7) C18 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Classical Variation C18 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qc7
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Portisch-Hook Variation C18 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qa5
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Positional Variation (7. Nf3 Nge7) C19 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Nc6 7. Nf3 Nge7
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Positional Variation (8. Bd2 Nge7) C19 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Nc6 7. Nf3 Qa5 8. Bd2 Nge7

More French Defense lines (all)

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.