French Defense: Winawer Variation, Eingorn Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 Kf8
The French Defense: Winawer Variation, Eingorn 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 Ne7 7. Qg4 Kf8. 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 37 times by this move order. White won 54%, 3% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 8. h4 (32% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.91 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 8. a4 Qa5 9. Bd2 Qc7 10. Bd3 b6)
- ECO
- C18
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
rnbq1k1r/pp2nppp/4p3/2ppP3/3P2Q1/P1P5/2P2PPP/R1B1KBNR w KQ - 3 8- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 Kf8
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 6 | |
| 2000+ | 31 | |
| All | 37 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. h4 | 12 (32%) | |
| 8. Nf3 | 12 (32%) | |
| 8. Bd3 | 3 (8%) | |
| 8. a4 | 3 (8%) | |
| 8. f4 | 2 (5%) | |
| 8. Bd2 | 1 (3%) | |
| 8. dxc5 | 1 (3%) | |
| 8. Be3 | 1 (3%) |
Master games
252 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 21%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) – Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-21
- Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) – KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-21
- Seer 20241122 (3542) – KomodoDragon 3.3 (3583) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-13
- KomodoDragon 3.3 (3583) – Seer 20241122 (3542) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-11
- Stockfish dev-20230308-39da50e (3607) – Berserk 20230311 (3476) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-04-02
Search all games of the French Defense: Winawer Variation, Eingorn Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Zemial27 (2601) – GM BartoszSocko (2768) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- RoryMcCann (2697) – FM iustin104 (2647) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- AlObai (2632) – FM iustin104 (2595) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation (6. bxc3 Ne7) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7
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.