Caissa Codex
C12

French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Exchange Variation

Chess diagram: French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Exchange Variation after 5. exd5

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.

Statistics from Lichess

31,248 games: White 48.9% / Draw 7.2% / Black 43.9%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
13,99514K
12,76413K
2,4712,471
886886
760760
197197
6565
3333

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.07 The position is about equal

Best play: 5... Qxd5 6. Nf3 Ne4 7. Bd2 Bxc3 8. bxc3 c5 9. Be3 O-O 10. c4

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

Overview

French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Exchange 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. exd5 (5 moves).

In 31,248 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.9%, Black 43.9% and 7.2% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 5…exd5, in 45% of those games.

It continues into one named variation, French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Bogoljubow Variation.

Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.

Write a description or report a mistake
What would you like to send?

Markdown supported (headings ###, bold, lists, links). Submissions are reviewed before publishing.

How to play against the French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Exchange Variation

5…Qxd5 scores best for Black: 49.9%, with Black winning 46.0% and White 46.2% of 13K games. The most played, 5…exd5, scores 45.8% in 14K games, and 5…Bxc3+ scores lowest: 45.2%. Stockfish's first choice is also 5…Qxd5.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings

Variations (1)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 5. exd5, the position after French Defense: McCutcheon Variation also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Exchange Variation (C12)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-mccutcheon-variation-exchange-variation

https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-mccutcheon-variation-exchange-variation