C18 · Semi-Open · a defense for Black

French Defense: Winawer Variation, Poisoned Pawn Variation, Main Line

19/19
1.e4e62.d4d53.Nc3Bb44.e5c55.a3Bxc3+6.bxc3Ne77.Qg4Qc78.Qxg7Rg89.Qxh7cxd410.Ne2
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Poisoned Pawn Variation, Main Line55k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
59%32k53%
35%19k49%
5.3%2.9k41%
0.7%39347%
0.2%8751%
0.1%6639%
0%1831%
0%1030%
0%1030%
0%60%
Famous games in this line2.3k master games
Giri, A. (2752) – Carlsen, M. (2834)2018½–½Anand, Viswanathan (2791) – Ivanchuk, Vassily (2779)20091–0Aronian, L. (2782) – Duda, J. (2756)20210–1Vachier Lagrave, M. (2775) – Radjabov, T. (2731)2015½–½Leko, Peter (2730) – Caruana, Fabiano (2775)2012½–½Karjakin, Sergey (2786) – Nepomniachtchi, Ian (2703)2013½–½Karjakin, Sergey (2756) – Nepomniachtchi, I. (2721)20131–0Svidler, Peter (2747) – Vitiugov, Nikita (2712)2013½–½
Heroes of this opening Anand, Viswanathan · Duda, J. · Karjakin, Sergey
Family
French Defense
Category
Semi-Open
First move
1.e4
ECO
C18
Line
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 Qc7 8. Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 cxd4 10. Ne2
Sharp
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Nearby lines in the family
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Poisoned Pawn Variation, Paoli VariationC18 10.Kd1French Defense: Classical Variation, Stahlberg VariationC14 3…Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.Bxe7 …French Defense: Steinitz Variation, Brodsky-Jones VariationC11 3…Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.dxc5 …
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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