French Defense: Winawer Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4
The French Defense: Winawer Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C15, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4. It is a line of the French Defense. White is to move. 6 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 11,231 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 4. e5 (48% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.40 (Stockfish, depth 57; best line 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Ba5 6. Qg4 Ne7)
- ECO
- C15
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1nr/ppp2ppp/4p3/3p4/1b1PP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 2 4- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,075 | |
| 1500-1999 | 5,041 | |
| 2000+ | 5,115 | |
| All | 11,231 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. e5 Winawer Variation, Advance Variation (3… Bb4 4. e5) | 5,423 (48%) | |
| 4. exd5 Winawer Variation, Delayed Exchange Variation | 1,935 (17%) | |
| 4. Bd3 | 1,195 (11%) | |
| 4. Ne2 Winawer Variation, Alekhine-Maróczy Gambit | 773 (7%) | |
| 4. Bd2 Winawer Variation, Fingerslip Variation | 690 (6%) | |
| 4. a3 | 546 (5%) | |
| 4. Qg4 | 223 (2%) | |
| 4. f3 | 112 (1%) |
Master games
1,489 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 19%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2751) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2830) 1/2-1/2 · Casablanca Chess 2024 · 2024-05-19
- GM Levon Aronian (2781) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2784) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com Speed 2020 · 2020-11-11
- GM Levon Aronian (2781) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2784) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 2020 · 2020-11-11
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2767) – GM Levon Aronian (2729) 1/2-1/2 · Saint Louis Blitz 2024 · 2024-08-16
- GM Bassem Amin (2683) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2795) 0-1 · Casablanca Chess 2024 · 2024-05-19
Search all games of the French Defense: Winawer Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- kuhmft (2852) – Americanchampion (2856) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Tempstream (2755) – Americanchampion (2845) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Freerunning (2742) – kuhmft (2842) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Paulsen Variation 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3
Continuations
- French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation (3… Bb4 4. e5) C16 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5
- French Defense: Winawer Variation, Alekhine-Maróczy Gambit C15 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Ne2
- French Defense: Winawer Variation, Delayed Exchange Variation C15 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. exd5
- French Defense: Winawer Variation, Fingerslip Variation C15 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2
- French Defense: Winawer Variation, Kondratiyev Variation C15 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd3 c5 5. exd5 Qxd5 6. Bd2
- French Defense: Winawer Variation, Winckelmann-Reimer Gambit C15 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 dxe4 6. f3
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.