French Defense: Winawer Variation, Warsaw Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 O-O
The French Defense: Winawer Variation, Warsaw 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 O-O. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 97 times by this move order. White won 44%, 8% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 8. Bd3 (54% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.57 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 8. Bd3 f5 9. exf6 Rxf6 10. Bg5 Rf7)
- ECO
- C18
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/pp2nppp/4p3/2ppP3/3P2Q1/P1P5/2P2PPP/R1B1KBNR w KQ - 3 8- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 5 | |
| 1500-1999 | 32 | |
| 2000+ | 60 | |
| All | 97 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Bd3 | 52 (54%) | |
| 8. h4 | 20 (21%) | |
| 8. Nf3 | 9 (9%) | |
| 8. Bh6 | 8 (8%) | |
| 8. Bg5 | 3 (3%) | |
| 8. f4 | 2 (2%) | |
| 8. Ne2 | 1 (1%) | |
| 8. a4 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
622 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 22%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- Stockfish 20210113 (3601) – LCZero 0.27.0d-Tilps-dje-magic_JH.94-100 (3586) 1-0 · TCEC 20 Superfinal 2020 · 2021-01-29
- LCZero 0.27.0d-Tilps-dje-magic_JH.94-100 (3586) – Stockfish 20210113 (3601) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Superfinal 2020 · 2021-01-29
- GM Sergey Karjakin (2778) – GM Francisco Vallejo Pons (2697) 1-0 · 5th Final Masters · 2012-10-12
- GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2734) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2704) 1/2-1/2 · 28th European Club Cup · 2012-10-14
- GM Anish Giri (2780) – GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (2656) 1/2-1/2 · 22nd European Teams · 2019-10-28
Search all games of the French Defense: Winawer Variation, Warsaw Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- CM Mysterious-Master (2549) – schoolchess93 (2592) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- nuitet989893 (2548) – schoolchess93 (2593) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Ho_eschatos (2539) – jheremiasc (2524) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
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
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.