French Defense: Winawer Variation, Alekhine Gambit, Alatortsev Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Ne2 dxe4 5. a3 Be7 6. Nxe4 Nf6 7. N2g3 O-O 8. Be2 Nc6
The French Defense: Winawer Variation, Alekhine Gambit, Alatortsev Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C15, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Ne2 dxe4 5. a3 Be7 6. Nxe4 Nf6 7. N2g3 O-O 8. Be2 Nc6. 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 1 times by this move order. White won 0%, 100% were drawn and Black won 0%. The most popular continuation is 9. c3 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.25 (Stockfish, depth 29; best line 9. Nxf6+ Bxf6 10. c3 e5 11. d5 Ne7)
- ECO
- C15
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/ppp1bppp/2n1pn2/8/3PN3/P5N1/1PP1BPPP/R1BQK2R w KQ - 5 9- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Ne2 dxe4 5. a3 Be7 6. Nxe4 Nf6 7. N2g3 O-O 8. Be2 Nc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 1 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9. c3 | 1 (100%) |
Master games
2 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 0%, draw 0%, Black 100%). The strongest:
- WFM Alessia Carmen Santeramo (2162) – FM Artem Odegov (2286) 0-1 · Titled Tue 30th Aug Early · 2022-08-30
- Jose Felix Calvo Gonzalez (2077) – IM Hernando Rodrigo, Ju. (2241) 0-1 · TCh-ESP 2nd Div 2022 · 2022-08-22
Highest-rated Lichess games
- cleverdestroyer (2286) – Junoraii (2383) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 600 + 5s
Comes from
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Alekhine-Maróczy Gambit 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Ne2
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.