French Defense: Winawer Variation, Exchange Variation, Canal Attack
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. exd5 exd5 5. Bd3 Ne7 6. Qh5
The French Defense: Winawer Variation, Exchange Variation, Canal Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C15, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. exd5 exd5 5. Bd3 Ne7 6. Qh5. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 12 times by this move order. White won 50%, 0% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 6… Nd7 (17% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.19 (Stockfish, depth 29; best line 6… Be6 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Nd7 9. Ne2)
- ECO
- C15
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp1nppp/8/3p3Q/1b1P4/2NB4/PPP2PPP/R1B1K1NR b KQkq - 3 6- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. exd5 exd5 5. Bd3 Ne7 6. Qh5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 6 | |
| 2000+ | 6 | |
| All | 12 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Nd7 | 2 (17%) | |
| 6… g6 | 2 (17%) | |
| 6… c6 | 2 (17%) | |
| 6… Nbc6 | 2 (17%) | |
| 6… Bxc3+ | 2 (17%) | |
| 6… Be6 | 1 (8%) | |
| 6… Ng6 | 1 (8%) |
Master games
116 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 21%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM Ruslan Ponomariov (2675) – GM Yangyi Yu (2739) 1/2-1/2 · IMSA World Masters Rapid · 2019-05-14
- GM Onischuk, V. (2612) – GM Igor Kovalenko (2700) 1-0 · World Blitz 2015 · 2015-10-14
- GM Alexander Motylev (2602) – GM Mateusz Bartel (2651) 1/2-1/2 · Bundesliga 2023-24 · 2024-02-04
- GM Onischuk, V. (2614) – GM Yuriy Kuzubov (2635) 1-0 · Nebesna sotnya Mem Blitz · 2016-02-19
- GM Marcin Krzyzanowski (2512) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2731) 0-1 · Titled Tue 7th Nov Late · 2023-11-07
Highest-rated Lichess games
- new9399 (2384) – Alfilparanoico (2484) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- botvinnik36 (2304) – obilv (2442) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- chavezcandanga (2283) – sinarajabi83 (2229) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Delayed Exchange Variation 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. exd5
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.