French Defense: Winawer Variation, Fingerslip Variation, Main Line
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2 dxe4 5. Qg4 Nf6 6. Qxg7 Rg8 7. Qh6
The French Defense: Winawer Variation, Fingerslip Variation, Main Line is a chess opening classified as ECO C15, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2 dxe4 5. Qg4 Nf6 6. Qxg7 Rg8 7. Qh6. 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 14 times by this move order. White won 29%, 7% were drawn and Black won 64%. The most popular continuation is 7… Rg6 (57% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.15 (Stockfish, depth 45; best line 7… Qxd4 8. O-O-O Nbd7 9. f3 a6 10. Nxe4)
- ECO
- C15
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1r1/ppp2p1p/4pn1Q/8/1b1Pp3/2N5/PPPB1PPP/R3KBNR b KQq - 2 7- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2 dxe4 5. Qg4 Nf6 6. Qxg7 Rg8 7. Qh6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 4 | |
| 2000+ | 10 | |
| All | 14 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… Rg6 | 8 (57%) | |
| 7… Qxd4 | 4 (29%) | |
| 7… Bxc3 | 2 (14%) |
Master games
37 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 27%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- FM Aksel Bu Kvaloy (2347) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2736) 0-1 · Titled Tue 6th Jun Early · 2023-06-06
- GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2678) – IM Oleg Vastrukhin (2401) 1-0 · C'Chartres Apr Blitz Open · 2021-04-10
- GM Anna Muzychuk (2545) – GM Harika Dronavalli (2505) 1/2-1/2 · SportAccord Blitz w 2014 · 2014-12-15
- GM Anna Muzychuk (2560) – GM Irina Krush (2491) 1/2-1/2 · World Rapid Women 2014 · 2014-04-25
- GM Miodrag Todorcevic Antic (2419) – GM Eric Hansen (2557) 0-1 · 29th Open · 2013-02-25
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FutureGrxndmaster (2460) – drglavas (2446) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- vakhnov (2295) – cipal21 (2288) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- Gambit-Refi (2190) – Necromanter (2312) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Fingerslip Variation 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2
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.