C18 · Semi-Open · a defense for Black

French Defense: Winawer Variation, Poisoned Pawn Variation, Paoli Variation

19/19
1.e4e62.d4d53.Nc3Bb44.e5c55.a3Bxc3+6.bxc3Ne77.Qg4Qc78.Qxg7Rg89.Qxh7cxd410.Kd1
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Poisoned Pawn Variation, Paoli Variation3.6k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
31%1.1k46%
28%98853%
23%80655%
17%61744%
0.8%2854%
0.8%2748%
0.1%333%
0.1%250%
0%10%
0%10%
Famous games in this line72 master games
Tari, A. (2584) – Kovalenko, I. (2684)20171–0Perunovic, Mil (2624) – Edouard, R. (2632)20151–0Tari, A. (2570) – Goganov, A. (2635)20170–1Short, Nigel D (2697) – Neelotpal, Das (2436)19990–1Tomczak, J. (2583) – Hertneck, G. (2496)20181–0Pichot, A. (2550) – Rodriguez Vila, A. (2498)20161–0Bagi, M. (2469) – Sengupta, D. (2564)2019½–½Stein, Bernd (2365) – Beliavsky, Alexander G (2640)1985½–½
Heroes of this opening Tari, A. · Perunovic, Mil · Goganov, A. · Neelotpal, Das
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. Kd1
Sharp
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Nearby lines in the family
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Poisoned Pawn Variation, Main LineC18 10.Ne2French 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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