C18

French Defense: Winawer Variation, Classical Variation

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Statistics from Lichess

193,745 games: White 47.3% / Draw 5.3% / Black 47.4%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	84,26884K
	54,52355K
	19,47819K
	8,3468,346
	6,1886,188
	4,8844,884
	3,4533,453
	3,4483,448

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 27, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.62 White is slightly better

Best play: 7. Qg4 Ne7 8. Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 cxd4 10. Ne2 dxc3 11. h4 Nbc6

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

By rating

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	325
1400–1799	11K
1800–2199	122K
2200 and up	62K
Masters, over the board	1,847

Master games

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: Winawer Variation, Classical Variation (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 Qc7 (6 moves).

In 193,745 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 47.3%, Black 47.4% and 5.3% were drawn. White's most played move here is 7. Qg4, in 43% of those games.

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Description

How to play against the French Defense: Winawer Variation, Classical Variation

7. Nf3 scores best for White: 52.4%, with White winning 49.5% and Black 44.8% of 55K games. The most played answer, 7. Qg4, scores lowest: 48.4% in 84K games. Stockfish's first choice is 7. Qg4.

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

Popularity by year

The French Defense: Winawer Variation, Classical Variation has lost ground since 2016: 0.0067% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.0098% (its peak: 0.012% in 2018).

0.0098%0.0067%0.012%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.0098%	3,501
2017	0.0093%	5,119
2018	0.012%	9,483
2019	0.0098%	12,194
2020	0.0097%	28,396
2021	0.0071%	27,608
2022	0.0066%	24,749
2023	0.007%	26,494
2024	0.0063%	22,639
2025	0.0067%	23,345
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.0061%	6,729

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

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “French Defense: Winawer Variation, Classical Variation (C18)”. Lichess data as of 27 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-winawer-variation-classical-variation