Caissa Codex
C19

French Defense: Winawer Variation, Positional Variation 7. Nf3 Nge7

Chess diagram: French Defense: Winawer Variation, Positional Variation after 7…Nge7

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

62,756 games: White 49.3% / Draw 5.4% / Black 45.3%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Positional Variation 21,67622K
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Positional Variation 12,65013K
8,7138,713
7,6917,691
2,9062,906
2,6082,608
2,3062,306
1,6391,639

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

Engine evaluation

+0.48 White is slightly better

Best play: 8. h4 Qa5 9. Bd2 Bd7 10. h5 h6 11. Qc1 Qc7 12. Rh3 Na5

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

Overview

French Defense: Winawer Variation, Positional Variation (ECO C19, 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 Nc6 7. Nf3 Nge7 (7 moves).

In 62,756 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.3%, Black 45.3% and 5.4% were drawn. White's most played move here is 8. Bd3, in 35% of those games.

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How to answer 7…Nge7

8. a4 (French Defense: Winawer Variation, Positional Variation) scores best for White: 57.1%, with White winning 54.4% and Black 40.3% of 13K games. The most played, 8. Bd3, scores 54.2% in 22K games, and 8. Bb5 scores lowest: 44.6%. Stockfish's first choice is 8. h4.

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

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 6…Nc6 7. Nf3 Nge7, the position after French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation also goes on to:

Transpositions

This position is also reached from these lines, by another move order:

From here, a move transposes into another named line:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “French Defense: Winawer Variation, Positional Variation (C19)”. Lichess data as of 26 Sep 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-winawer-variation-positional-variation-2

https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-winawer-variation-positional-variation-2