French Defense: Winawer Variation, Poisoned Pawn Variation Declined
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 Qc7 8. Bd3
The French Defense: Winawer Variation, Poisoned Pawn Variation Declined 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 Qc7 8. Bd3. 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 20 times by this move order. White won 65%, 0% were drawn and Black won 35%. The most popular continuation is 8… cxd4 (70% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.39 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 8… cxd4 9. Ne2 dxc3 10. Qxg7 Rg8 11. Qxh7)
- ECO
- C18
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
rnb1k2r/ppq1nppp/4p3/2ppP3/3P2Q1/P1PB4/2P2PPP/R1B1K1NR b KQkq - 4 8- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 Qc7 8. Bd3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 3 | |
| 2000+ | 17 | |
| All | 20 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… cxd4 | 14 (70%) | |
| 8… c4 | 5 (25%) | |
| 8… Nbc6 | 1 (5%) |
Master games
406 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 52%, draw 18%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2830) – GM Richard Rapport (2719) 1-0 · GRENKE Chess Playoffs 1-2 · 2024-04-01
- GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2752) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2769) 1-0 · Titled Tue 9th Jan Early · 2024-01-09
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2728) – GM Richard Rapport (2720) 1-0 · GRENKE Chess Classic 2024 · 2024-03-28
- GM Ivan Saric (2661) – GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2767) 1/2-1/2 · SuperUnited CRO Rapid 2025 · 2025-07-02
- GM Maxim Matlakov (2682) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2704) 1/2-1/2 · 74th ch-RUS 2021 · 2021-10-17
Highest-rated Lichess games
- LikeNeverBe4 (2436) – tarczynski (2480) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- qzrchess77 (2526) – KIT08 (2345) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- JohnnyEnglisch (2452) – FM Oliwah (2367) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Poisoned Pawn Variation (7. Qg4 Qc7) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 Qc7
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.