French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation, with Bd3 (7. Bd3 Qc7)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Bd3 Qc7
The French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation, with Bd3 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 Ne7 7. Bd3 Qc7. 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 6 times by this move order. White won 83%, 0% were drawn and Black won 17%. The most popular continuation is 8. Nf3 (67% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.49 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 8. Qg4 c4 9. Be2 Qa5 10. Bd2 Rg8)
- ECO
- C18
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
rnb1k2r/ppq1nppp/4p3/2ppP3/3P4/P1PB4/2P2PPP/R1BQK1NR w KQkq - 3 8- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Bd3 Qc7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 3 | |
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 6 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Nf3 | 4 (67%) | |
| 8. a4 | 1 (17%) | |
| 8. f4 | 1 (17%) |
Master games
13 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 0%, Black 54%). The strongest:
- Kirill Reshetkov (2217) – Khuyagtsogt Itgelt (2184) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 12th Jan · 2021-01-12
- Alexandr Scurtu (2062) – FM Iustin Ciorgovean (2319) 0-1 · GP Stage 5 Braila 2022 · 2022-11-06
- FM Marat Denishev (2179) – Elvin Wilson (2183) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 17th Aug · 2021-08-17
- CM Alvaro Rodriguez Avila (2190) – Daniel Cremisi (2170) 0-1 · Titled Tue 28th Nov Early · 2023-11-28
- FM Morales Carlos (2131) – CM Javier Ruiz Vazquez (2134) 1-0 · Titled Tue 1st Oct Early · 2024-10-01
Highest-rated Lichess games
- arisont (2167) – Veisar (2111) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- Aibolit_66 (2095) – kolesnikovsm (2144) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- charsky (2086) – HalloFresh (2112) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation, with Bd3 (6… Ne7 7. Bd3) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Bd3
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.