French Defense: Winawer Variation, Positional Variation (7. Nf3 Qc7)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Nf3 Qc7
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. Nf3 Qc7. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 23 times by this move order. White won 35%, 4% were drawn and Black won 61%. The most popular continuation is 8. Bd3 (30% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.49 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 8. a4 h6 9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. Be2 Bc6)
- ECO
- C19
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
rnb1k2r/ppq1nppp/4p3/2ppP3/3P4/P1P2N2/2P2PPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 3 8- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Nf3 Qc7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 7 | |
| 2000+ | 16 | |
| All | 23 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Bd3 | 7 (30%) | |
| 8. Bb5+ | 3 (13%) | |
| 8. a4 | 3 (13%) | |
| 8. Bd2 | 3 (13%) | |
| 8. h4 Winawer Variation, Positional Variation (7… Qc7 8. h4) | 3 (13%) | |
| 8. Be2 | 2 (9%) | |
| 8. Bb2 | 1 (4%) | |
| 8. Bg5 | 1 (4%) |
Master games
63 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 9%, Black 48%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2742) – GM So, W. (2753) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess 2023 · 2023-09-05
- GM Yuriy Kryvoruchko (2711) – GM Ulvi Bajarani (2551) 0-1 · 4th Al Ain Chess Classic · 2015-12-24
- GM Dariusz Swiercz (2614) – GM Evgeny Romanov (2647) 1-0 · Bundesliga 2014-15 · 2015-03-14
- GM Zhamsaran Tsydypov (2506) – GM Sanan Sjugirov (2620) 0-1 · Kazakhstan Cup Final 2025 · 2025-12-09
- GM A.R. Saleh Salem (2682) – IM Vuk Djordjevic (2347) 0-1 · Titled Tue 25th Aug · 2020-08-25
Highest-rated Lichess games
- joobree (2614) – RembrandtvanRijin (2712) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- AMRULLAH_MF (2450) – ControlledPlayer (2455) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- capmega (2380) – ControlledPlayer (2454) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Positional Variation (6… Ne7 7. Nf3) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Nf3
Continuations
- French Defense: Winawer Variation, Positional Variation (7… Qc7 8. h4) C19 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Nf3 Qc7 8. h4
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.