C15 · Semi-Open · a defense for Black
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Alekhine-Maróczy Gambit
7/7
1.e4e62.d4d53.Nc3Bb44.Ne2
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Alekhine-Maróczy Gambit177k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
52%92k45%
17%30k35%
16%28k47%
7.1%13k45%
4.1%7.3k52%
1.6%2.8k36%
0.8%1.4k43%
0.8%1.4k42%
0.3%52741%
0.2%38445%
Famous games in this line2.4k master games
Vachier Lagrave, M. (2737) – Rapport, R. (2740)Jobava, Ba (2707) – Ivanchuk, V. (2738)Vachier Lagrave, Maxime (2788) – Bauer, Ch (2634)Timofeev, Artyom (2658) – Ivanchuk, Vassily (2748)Moussard, J. (2600) – Caruana, F. (2798)Radjabov, Teimour (2650) – Topalov, Veselin (2735)Tari, A. (2629) – Rapport, R. (2752)Solodovnichenko, Y. (2592) – Giri, A. (2776)Heroes of this opening Vachier Lagrave, Maxime · Ivanchuk, V. · Solodovnichenko, Y.
- Family
- French Defense
- Category
- Semi-Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C15
- Line
- 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Ne2
Gambit
★ Read the guide: French DefenseExplore all 212 French Defense lines →Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Wolf GambitC15 4…Nf6 5.Bg5French Defense: Winawer Variation, Alekhine Gambit AcceptedC15 4…dxe4 5.a3 Bxc3 · 1 deeper lineFrench Defense: Winawer Variation, Alekhine Gambit, Kan VariationC15 4…dxe4 5.a3 Bxc3 6.Nxc3 Nc6French Defense: Winawer Variation, Alekhine Gambit, Alatortsev VariationC15 4…dxe4 5.a3 Be7 6.Nxe4 Nf6 7.N2g3 …
Nearby lines in the family
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