French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Advance Variation
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
424,144 games: White 46.6% / Draw 6.0% / Black 47.4%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 407,164407K | ||
| 14,76015K | ||
| 526526 | ||
| 352352 | ||
| 286286 | ||
| 275275 | ||
| 207207 | ||
| 196196 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 31, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.37 White is slightly better
Best play: 5... h6 6. Bd2 Bxc3 7. bxc3 Ne4 8. Bc1 Nxc3 9. Qg4 g6 10. Ne2
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
The stronger the players, the worse this line does for White: White scores 63% under 1400, 51% at 2200 and up and 54% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 11K | |
| 1400–1799 | 48K | |
| 1800–2199 | 258K | |
| 2200 and up | 133K | |
| Masters, over the board | 3,552 |
Master games
- Anand, V. – Nakamura, H.
- Anand, V. – Shirov, A.
- Gashimov, V. – Nakamura, H.
- Anand, V. – Morozevich, A.
- Kasparov, G. – Kortschnoj, V.
Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 27, 2026
Overview
French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Advance Variation (ECO C12, Open Games) is a variation of the French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 (5 moves).
In 424,144 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 46.6%, Black 47.4% and 6.0% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 5…h6, in 96% of those games.
It branches into 6 named variations; the most played are French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Lasker Variation and French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Chigorin Variation. In all, 8 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
Write a description or report a mistake
Popularity by year
The French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Advance Variation has lost ground since 2016: 0.013% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.021% (its peak: 0.028% in 2018).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.021% | 7,576 |
| 2017 | 0.027% | 14,802 |
| 2018 | 0.028% | 21,856 |
| 2019 | 0.023% | 28,940 |
| 2020 | 0.022% | 63,214 |
| 2021 | 0.017% | 64,778 |
| 2022 | 0.014% | 53,591 |
| 2023 | 0.014% | 51,391 |
| 2024 | 0.014% | 49,111 |
| 2025 | 0.013% | 46,583 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.014% | 15,037 |
Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling
Variations (6)
- C12 McCutcheon Variation, Bernstein Variation 5…h6 6. Bh4
- C12 McCutcheon Variation, Chigorin Variation 5…h6 6. exf6
- C12 McCutcheon Variation, Dr. Olland Variation 5…h6 6. Bc1
- C12 McCutcheon Variation, Janowski Variation 5…h6 6. Be3
- C12 McCutcheon Variation, Lasker Variation 5…h6 6. Bd2 Bxc3
- C12 McCutcheon Variation, Tartakower Variation 5…h6 6. Bd2 Nfd7
All 8 named lines that continue from here
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Bernstein Variation 6 moves
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Chigorin Variation 6 moves
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Dr. Olland Variation 6 moves
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Janowski Variation 6 moves
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Lasker Variation 6 moves
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Tartakower Variation 6 moves
- C12 French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Grigoriev Variation 9 moves
- C12 Lasker Variation 8 moves
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Advance Variation (C12)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-mccutcheon-variation-advance-variation