French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation, Moscow Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. Qg4
The French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation, Moscow Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C17, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. Qg4. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 154 times by this move order. White won 48%, 7% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 5… Ne7 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 51; best line 5… Ne7 6. dxc5 Nbc6 7. Nf3 O-O 8. Bd3)
- ECO
- C17
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1nr/pp3ppp/4p3/2ppP3/1b1P2Q1/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1B1KBNR b KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. Qg4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3 | |
| 1500-1999 | 63 | |
| 2000+ | 88 | |
| All | 154 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Ne7 | 69 (45%) | |
| 5… g6 | 36 (23%) | |
| 5… Kf8 | 29 (19%) | |
| 5… cxd4 | 10 (6%) | |
| 5… Bxc3+ | 9 (6%) | |
| 5… Nc6 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
236 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 17%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- GM Alexandr Predke (2671) – GM Anish Giri (2724) 1/2-1/2 · 45th Olympiad 2024 · 2024-09-18
- GM Samuel Sevian (2677) – GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2642) 1-0 · St Louis Summer B · 2019-06-26
- GM Alexey Sarana (2686) – GM Alexander Rustemov (2525) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 17th Jun Late · 2025-06-17
- GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (2611) – GM Alexander Rustemov (2525) 0-1 · Chess.com Classic Play-In · 2025-05-19
- GM Stanislav Voitsekhovsky (2523) – GM Pavel Ponkratov (2605) 0-1 · 66th ch-RUS HL · 2013-06-27
Highest-rated Lichess games
- ErnstStavroBlofeld96 (2377) – NikitaDobrinic (2491) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- ErnstStavroBlofeld96 (2377) – Woodenmouse (2458) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- NM PowerSpeedMetalIV (2433) – Trebor23 (2400) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation (4. e5 c5) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5
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.