C12 · Semi-Open · a defense for Black

French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Duras Variation

17/17
1.e4e62.Nc3d53.d4Nf64.Bg5Bb45.e5h66.Bd2Bxc37.bxc3Ne48.Qg4Kf89.Bc1
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Duras Variation601 games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
68%40943%
28%16837%
1%642%
0.7%475%
0.5%30%
0.5%333%
0.3%20%
0.3%20%
0.2%10%
0.2%10%
Famous games in this line21 master games
Iordachescu, Viorel (2626) – Vaisser, Anatoli (2522)2011½–½Kobo, Ori (2449) – Keymer, Vincent (2558)20200–1Vishnu, Prasanna (2435) – Antic, Dejan (2506)20121–0Lanin, Alexsej (2465) – Batsanin, Dmitry (2452)2007½–½Faizulaev, Akmal (2275) – Volkov, Sergey (2627)20090–1Hebden, Mark (2460) – Lautier, Joel (2365)1988½–½Rudolf, Henrik (2340) – Richter, Michael (2460)20121–0Grund, Holger (2441) – Vogler, Tilmann (2318)20041–0
Heroes of this opening Keymer, Vincent · Vishnu, Prasanna · Volkov, Sergey · Rudolf, Henrik
Family
French Defense
Category
Semi-Open
First move
1.e4
ECO
C12
Line
1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Bd2 Bxc3 7. bxc3 Ne4 8. Qg4 Kf8 9. Bc1
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Nearby lines in the family
French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Grigoriev VariationC12 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4 …French Defense: Advance Variation, Milner-Barry Gambit, Sørensen VariationC02 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 …French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Leningrad VariationC06 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 …
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.

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