French Defense: Winawer Variation, Positional Variation (7. Bd3 Nbc6 8. Nf3)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Bd3 Nbc6 8. Nf3
The French Defense: Winawer Variation, Positional Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C19, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Bd3 Nbc6 8. Nf3. 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 8 times by this move order. White won 38%, -1% were drawn and Black won 63%. The most popular continuation is 8… Qa5 (38% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 41; best line 8… Qa5 9. O-O c4 10. Be2 Qxc3 11. Bd2)
- ECO
- C19
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pp2nppp/2n1p3/2ppP3/3P4/P1PB1N2/2P2PPP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 4 8- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Bd3 Nbc6 8. Nf3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 6 | |
| All | 8 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… Qa5 | 3 (38%) | |
| 8… Qc7 | 2 (25%) | |
| 8… c4 | 2 (25%) | |
| 8… Bd7 | 1 (13%) |
Master games
11 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 36%, draw 28%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM Eric Hansen (2609) – FM Mikhail Maslov (2322) 1-0 · Titled Tue 22nd Sep 2026 · 2026-09-22
- GM David Paravyan (2653) – Kirk Ghazarian (2181) 1-0 · PNWCC Online Blitz JP 11 · 2020-05-30
- CM Mehta Naitik R (2244) – GM Yeshaayahu Tzidkiya (2492) 1-0 · Kanizsa Open 2026 · 2026-08-16
- Finn Broman (1951) – IM Petro Golubka (2478) 0-1 · CellaVision Cup 2018 · 2018-08-03
- WCM Ewa Barwinska (1914) – IM Miguel Medina Paz (2368) 1-0 · Titled Tue 25th Apr Early · 2023-04-25
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Sasap64 (2375) – scorpio2022 (2393) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 300 + 0s
- Chessmaker10 (2310) – ng99 (2326) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- lilsam (2253) – ELMATAKING (2255) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation, with Bd3 (6… Ne7 7. Bd3) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Bd3
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.