C15 · Semi-Open · a defense for Black

French Defense: Winawer Variation, Fingerslip Variation, Main Line

13/13
1.e4e62.d4d53.Nc3Bb44.Bd2dxe45.Qg4Nf66.Qxg7Rg87.Qh6
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Fingerslip Variation, Main Line6.6k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
41%2.7k47%
34%2.2k44%
9.5%62754%
5.1%33748%
4%26344%
2.4%15754%
1.9%12647%
1.2%8240%
0.4%2757%
0.4%2778%
Famous games in this line64 master games
Bezgodov, Alexei (2542) – Kornev, Alexei (2566)20030–1Muzychuk, A. (2560) – Krush, I. (2491)2014½–½Muzychuk, A. (2545) – Harika, D. (2505)2014½–½Todorcevic, Miodrag (2419) – Hansen, Eric (2557)20130–1Grabarczyk, Bogdan (2394) – Socko, Bartosz (2556)20001–0Kurnosov, Igor (2543) – Arakelov, Ilya (2401)2004½–½Thorhallsson, Throstur (2425) – Levitt, Jonathan (2465)1992½–½Ribshtein, Nati (2324) – Ivanov, Sergey (2556)2003½–½
Heroes of this opening Kornev, Alexei · Hansen, Eric · Grabarczyk, Bogdan
Family
French Defense
Category
Semi-Open
First move
1.e4
ECO
C15
Line
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2 dxe4 5. Qg4 Nf6 6. Qxg7 Rg8 7. Qh6
★ Read the guide: French DefenseExplore all 212 French Defense lines →
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Nearby lines in the family
French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Capablanca LineC10 3…dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6 …French Defense: Rubinstein Variation, Kasparov AttackC10 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 …French Defense: Classical Variation, Alapin VariationC14 3…Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.Bxe7 …
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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