French Defense: Winawer Variation, Poisoned Pawn Variation, Paoli Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 Qc7 8. Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 cxd4 10. Kd1
The French Defense: Winawer Variation, Poisoned Pawn Variation, Paoli 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 Qc7 8. Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 cxd4 10. Kd1. 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 11 times by this move order. White won 45%, 10% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 10… dxc3 (36% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 10… dxc3 11. Nf3 Bd7 12. h4 Nbc6 13. Bg5)
- ECO
- C18
- Moves
- 19 plies
- FEN
rnb1k1r1/ppq1np1Q/4p3/3pP3/3p4/P1P5/2P2PPP/R1BK1BNR b q - 1 10- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 Qc7 8. Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 cxd4 10. Kd1
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 11 | |
| All | 11 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10… dxc3 | 4 (36%) | |
| 10… Qxc3 | 3 (27%) | |
| 10… Qxe5 | 2 (18%) | |
| 10… Nbc6 | 2 (18%) |
Master games
19 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 53%, draw 0%, Black 47%). The strongest:
- GM Aryan Tari (2570) – GM Aleksey Goganov (2635) 0-1 · TCh-SWE Elitserien · 2017-03-25
- IM Milan Pacher (2471) – IM Pavel Cech (2388) 1-0 · TCh-SVK 2015-16 · 2016-01-16
- IM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (2432) – IM Praveen Kumar C (2279) 0-1 · 19th Lienz Open 2017 · 2017-02-17
- IM Aleksandar Savanovic (2387) – FM Aaron Jacobson (2263) 0-1 · New York Spring IMD 2022 · 2022-04-17
- FM Tymon Ochedzan (2283) – FM Raem Sherman (2366) 0-1 · 37th Pula Open 2025 · 2025-06-23
Highest-rated Lichess games
- AaronGT24 (2424) – NM nihilistiq (2416) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- AaronGT24 (2420) – NM nihilistiq (2409) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- AaronGT24 (2430) – tecnomania (2369) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 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.