French Defense: Winawer Variation, Classical Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qc7
The French Defense: Winawer Variation, Classical 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 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 385 times by this move order. White won 45%, 7% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 7. Qg4 (44% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.54 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 7. Qg4 Ne7 8. Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 cxd4)
- ECO
- C18
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
rnb1k1nr/ppq2ppp/4p3/2ppP3/3P4/P1P5/2P2PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 1 7- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qc7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 104 | |
| 2000+ | 279 | |
| All | 385 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Qg4 | 171 (44%) | |
| 7. Nf3 | 94 (24%) | |
| 7. Bd2 | 49 (13%) | |
| 7. f4 | 15 (4%) | |
| 7. h4 | 12 (3%) | |
| 7. Bd3 | 9 (2%) | |
| 7. Bb5+ | 8 (2%) | |
| 7. a4 | 6 (2%) |
Master games
1,213 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 20%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- RubiChess20240420 (3531) – LCZero0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-6147500 (3628) 0-1 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-04-29
- LCZero0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-6147500 (3628) – RubiChess20240420 (3531) 1-0 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-04-27
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2862) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2749) 1-0 · Magnus-Alireza Bullet · 2021-02-22
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2786) – GM Richard Rapport (2776) 0-1 · Superbet Rapid 2022 · 2022-05-20
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2792) – GM Richard Rapport (2763) 1-0 · 7th Gashimov Mem Rapid · 2021-12-19
Highest-rated Lichess games
- vladimirmaxin (2465) – mahyar_modernchess (2608) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- midday_shadow (2589) – Woodenmouse (2460) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- edwardleekimhan (2449) – FM uhlmannfan (2574) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
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
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.