Caissa Codex
C18

French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation, with Bd3

Chess diagram: French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation, with Bd3 after 7. Bd3

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.

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Statistics from Lichess

30,066 games: White 47.6% / Draw 4.8% / Black 47.5%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
9,3579,357
4,9414,941
4,7994,799
4,5104,510
2,4252,425
1,6791,679
1,1371,137
635635

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 25, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.28 The position is about equal

Best play: 7... Bd7 8. a4 Nbc6 9. Nh3 cxd4 10. cxd4 Nxd4 11. O-O Ndc6 12. Qh5

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

Overview

French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation, with Bd3 (ECO C18, Open Games) is a variation of the French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Bd3 (7 moves).

In 30,066 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 47.6%, Black 47.5% and 4.8% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 7…Nbc6, in 31% of those games.

It branches into 2 named variations; the most played is French Defense: Winawer Variation, Positional Variation.

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How to play against the French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation, with Bd3

7…b6 scores best for Black: 53.6%, with Black winning 50.4% and White 43.1% of 2,425 games. The most played, 7…Nbc6, scores 49.5% in 9,357 games, and 7…c4 scores lowest: 49.2%. Stockfish's first choice is 7…Bd7.

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 (2)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 7. Bd3, the position after French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation, with Bd3 (C18)”. Lichess data as of 25 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-winawer-variation-advance-variation-with-bd3

https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-winawer-variation-advance-variation-with-bd3