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
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 Qc7. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 237 times by this move order. White won 47%, 6% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 8. Qxg7 (78% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.79 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 8. Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 cxd4 10. Ne2 dxc3)
- ECO
- C18
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
rnb1k2r/ppq1nppp/4p3/2ppP3/3P2Q1/P1P5/2P2PPP/R1B1KBNR w KQkq - 3 8- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 Qc7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 29 | |
| 2000+ | 208 | |
| All | 237 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Qxg7 | 184 (78%) | |
| 8. Bd2 | 23 (10%) | |
| 8. Bd3 Winawer Variation, Poisoned Pawn Variation Declined | 20 (8%) | |
| 8. Nf3 | 3 (1%) | |
| 8. Bb5+ | 2 (1%) | |
| 8. Ne2 | 2 (1%) | |
| 8. Kd1 | 1 (0%) | |
| 8. Bb2 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
193 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 47%, draw 17%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM David Paravyan (2620) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2686) 1-0 · Chess.com RCC Wk21 Swiss · 2022-07-16
- GM Alexey Sarana (2643) – GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (2624) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 24th Aug · 2021-08-24
- GM David Paravyan (2582) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2652) 0-1 · 1st 3-0 Thu 11th Dec 2025 · 2025-12-11
- IM Timothe Razafindratsima (2546) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2656) 1-0 · Titled Tue 26th May 2026 · 2026-05-26
- GM Anton Demchenko (2597) – GM Robert Markus (2586) 1/2-1/2 · 34th TCh-SLO 2024 · 2024-10-12
Highest-rated Lichess games
- PioneerZhangBeihai (2705) – SonofAtlantis (2619) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- legko2019 (2667) – IM MarceloPlaya (2481) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- legko2019 (2647) – stockfish1064POPCNT (2456) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
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 Declined C18 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 Qc7 8. Bd3
- French Defense: Winawer Variation, Poisoned Pawn Variation, Main Line C18 · 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. Ne2
- French Defense: Winawer Variation, Poisoned Pawn Variation, Paoli Variation C18 · 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
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.