C12 · Semi-Open · a defense for Black
French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Chigorin Variation
11/11
1.e4e62.d4d53.Nc3Nf64.Bg5Bb45.e5h66.exf6
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Chigorin Variation105k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
98%103k56%
1.1%1.2k23%
0.9%92750%
0.1%724%
0%750%
0%20%
0%10%
Famous games in this line162 master games
Zelcic, Robert (2554) – Socko, Bartosz (2641)Landa, Konstantin (2520) – Morozevich, Alexander (2625)Timman, Jan H (2655) – Ree, Hans (2475)Livaic, Leon (2543) – Martinovic, Sa (2556)Glazman, Moshe (2553) – Galanov, Sergey Igorevich (2539)Gonzalez, Bolívar Ribeiro (2557) – Pessoa, Francisco Azevedo (2525)Saenko, Oleg (2516) – Silva, António Augusto M. (2553)Saenko, Oleg (2558) – Hyldkrog, Lars (2497)Heroes of this opening Socko, Bartosz · Morozevich, Alexander
- Family
- French Defense
- Category
- Semi-Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C12
- Line
- 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. exf6
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From the archives
In 1834 the city of Paris beat the city of London in a correspondence match opening with 1...e6, and the defense has carried the name ever since. Botvinnik and Korchnoi built careers on its cramped-then-counterpunch character: concede space, then break with ...c5 or ...f6 at the right moment.
Study this opening