French Defense: Winawer Variation, Poisoned Pawn Variation (7… cxd4 8. Qxg7)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 cxd4 8. Qxg7
The French Defense: Winawer Variation, Poisoned Pawn 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 cxd4 8. Qxg7. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 16 times by this move order. White won 31%, 6% were drawn and Black won 63%. The most popular continuation is 8… Rg8 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.54 (Stockfish, depth 30; best line 8… Rg8 9. Qxh7 Qc7 10. Ne2 dxc3 11. f4)
- ECO
- C18
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/pp2npQp/4p3/3pP3/3p4/P1P5/2P2PPP/R1B1KBNR b KQkq - 0 8- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 cxd4 8. Qxg7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 14 | |
| All | 16 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… Rg8 | 16 (100%) |
Master games
279 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 26%, Black 26%). The strongest:
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2784) 1-0 · Carlsen Inv Prelim · 2020-04-25
- GM Peter Leko (2730) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2775) 1/2-1/2 · 40th GM · 2012-07-16
- GM Peter Svidler (2747) – GM Nikita Vitiugov (2712) 1/2-1/2 · Alekhine Mem · 2013-04-23
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2714) – GM Nikita Vitiugov (2738) 0-1 · 67th ch-RUS 2014 · 2014-12-07
- GM Hao Wang (2739) – GM Nikita Vitiugov (2703) 0-1 · 8th RUS-CHN Summit Men Rapid · 2012-07-08
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM bartsimpson6 (2412) – Fed67 (2445) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Suffkopf97 (2416) – Fed67 (2431) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- david23232323 (2407) – Fed67 (2433) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 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
Continuations
- French Defense: Winawer Variation, Poisoned Pawn Variation (9. Qxh7 Nbc6) C18 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 cxd4 8. Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 Nbc6
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.