Tree path 8 levels French Defense › Normal Variation › French Defense › Paulsen Variation › French Defense: Classical Variation › French Defense: Classical Variation › French Defense: McCutcheon Variation › Exchange Variation
French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Exchange Variation
Overview
French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Exchange Variation is a variation within the Open Games family, indexed as ECO C12.
The Open Games group covers open games — classical 1.e4 e5 openings where both sides contest the centre directly with pawns.
It is reached after 9 plies of play, with the move sequence 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. exd5.
It is a variation of French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, which itself descends from the root opening French Defense.
It continues primarily into one named line, French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Bogoljubow Variation.
Step through the moves on the interactive board below, review the live Lichess statistics, or play this position against Stockfish at one of six difficulty levels.
- ECO code
- C12
- Group
- Open Games (C)
- Plies
- 9
- Direct variations
- 1
This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.
Statistics from Lichess
31,248 games · White 48.9% / Draw 7.2% / Black 43.9%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| exd5 | 13,995 | |
| Qxd5 | 12,764 | |
| Bxc3+ | 2,471 | |
| h6 | 886 | |
| O-O | 760 | |
| Qe7 | 197 | |
| Nbd7 | 65 | |
| c6 | 33 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 02:01:24
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