French Defense: Winawer Variation, Fingerslip Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2
The French Defense: Winawer Variation, Fingerslip Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C15, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 690 times by this move order. White won 50%, 4% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 4… Bxc3 (40% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4… dxe4 5. Qg4 Nf6 6. Qxg7 Rg8 7. Qh6)
- ECO
- C15
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1nr/ppp2ppp/4p3/3p4/1b1PP3/2N5/PPPB1PPP/R2QKBNR b KQkq - 3 4- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 232 | |
| 1500-1999 | 318 | |
| 2000+ | 140 | |
| All | 690 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Bxc3 | 273 (40%) | |
| 4… c5 | 106 (15%) | |
| 4… dxe4 | 95 (14%) | |
| 4… Nf6 | 93 (13%) | |
| 4… Ne7 | 51 (7%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 39 (6%) | |
| 4… c6 | 7 (1%) | |
| 4… b6 | 5 (1%) |
Master games
133 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 32%, draw 15%, Black 53%). The strongest:
- GM Jiri Stocek (2604) – GM Alexander Rustemov (2525) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 9th Mar · 2021-03-09
- GM Anna Muzychuk (2545) – GM Nana Dzagnidze (2570) 1/2-1/2 · SportAccord Rapid w 2014 · 2014-12-12
- GM Sergio E Barrientos (2475) – GM Jorge Cori (2636) 0-1 · Open IRT Sabaneta 2023 · 2023-07-03
- IM Thomas Beerdsen (2523) – GM Aleksandr Shimanov (2581) 1-0 · Titled Tue 18th Apr Early · 2023-04-18
- FM Aliaksei Kramich (2300) – GM Haik M. Martirosyan (2664) 0-1 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 17th Sep 2026 · 2026-09-17
Highest-rated Lichess games
- stovm (2462) – Zirva_Safarov (2461) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- FutureGrxndmaster (2460) – drglavas (2446) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- FM sachista15 (2405) – LordSummerisle (2449) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Winawer Variation 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4
Continuations
- French Defense: Winawer Variation, Fingerslip Variation, Schwarz's Line C15 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2 Ne7 5. Nb1
- French Defense: Winawer Variation, Fingerslip Variation, Kunin Double Gambit C15 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2 dxe4 5. Qg4 Qxd4
- French Defense: Winawer Variation, Fingerslip Variation, Main Line C15 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2 dxe4 5. Qg4 Nf6 6. Qxg7 Rg8 7. Qh6
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.