French Defense: Winawer Variation, Alekhine Gambit Accepted
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Ne2 dxe4 5. a3 Bxc3+
The French Defense: Winawer Variation, Alekhine Gambit Accepted is a chess opening classified as ECO C15, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Ne2 dxe4 5. a3 Bxc3+. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 261 times by this move order. White won 59%, 2% were drawn and Black won 39%. The most popular continuation is 6. Nxc3 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.14 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 6. Nxc3 Nc6 7. Bb5 Ne7 8. Be3 O-O)
- ECO
- C15
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1nr/ppp2ppp/4p3/8/3Pp3/P1b5/1PP1NPPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Ne2 dxe4 5. a3 Bxc3+
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 8 | |
| 1500-1999 | 76 | |
| 2000+ | 177 | |
| All | 261 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Nxc3 | 260 (100%) | |
| 6. bxc3 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
176 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 59%, draw 16%, Black 25%). The strongest:
- GM Jules Moussard (2625) – GM Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen (2641) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tuesday 8th Sept · 2020-09-08
- GM Arman Mikaelyan (2493) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2729) 0-1 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 11th Dec 2025 · 2025-12-11
- GM Robert Rabiega (2490) – GM Bartosz Socko (2627) 0-1 · 2nd Bundesliga Nord 22-23 · 2023-02-04
- GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2758) – FM Forsaa, E. (2305) 1-0 · 11th Gibraltar Masters · 2013-01-24
- IM Arghyadip Das (2457) – GM Predrag Nikolic (2601) 1-0 · 9th Leiden Open A 2015 · 2015-07-23
Highest-rated Lichess games
- TheorySpeedrun (2640) – Ante373 (2662) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- metan0ia (2660) – tarczynski (2637) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 600 + 0s
- atsaynm (2634) – chess646464 (2574) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Alekhine-Maróczy Gambit 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Ne2
Continuations
- French Defense: Winawer Variation, Alekhine Gambit, Kan Variation C15 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Ne2 dxe4 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Nxc3 Nc6
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.