Caissa Codex
C18

French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation, with h4

Chess diagram: French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation, with h4 after 7. h4

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

50,096 games: White 51.1% / Draw 5.7% / Black 43.1%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
15,39315K
12,89113K
10,36810K
3,4933,493
2,1582,158
1,6581,658
1,3781,378
1,2111,211

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Sep 26, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.46 White is slightly better

Best play: 7... Qc7 8. Rh3 Nbc6 9. h5 h6 10. Nf3 Bd7 11. Be2 O-O-O 12. Kf1

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 h4 (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. h4 (7 moves).

In 50,096 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 51.1%, Black 43.1% and 5.7% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 7…Qc7, in 31% of those games.

It continues into one named variation.

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How to play against the French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation, with h4

The most played answer, 7…Qc7, also scores best for Black: 47.3%, with Black winning 44.5% and White 49.8% of 15K games. Of the main answers, 7…b6 scores lowest: 44.9%. Stockfish's first choice is also 7…Qc7.

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 7. h4, 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 h4 (C18)”. Lichess data as of 26 Sep 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-winawer-variation-advance-variation-with-h4

https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-winawer-variation-advance-variation-with-h4