French Defense: Steiner Variation
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
4,067,005 games: White 50.6% / Draw 4.8% / Black 44.6%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 2,294,3652.3M | ||
| 498,778499K | ||
| 407,659408K | ||
| 224,975225K | ||
| 156,839157K | ||
| 123,895124K | ||
| 60,32860K | ||
| 56,31356K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 31, 2026
Engine evaluation
−0.08 The position is about equal
Best play: 2... d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. cxd5 Nf6 5. Bb5+ Nbd7 6. Nc3 a6 7. Be2
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: White scores 51% under 1400, 52% at 2200 and up and 55% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 580K | |
| 1400–1799 | 1.9M | |
| 1800–2199 | 2.6M | |
| 2200 and up | 270K | |
| Masters, over the board | 999 |
Master games
- Vachier Lagrave, M. – Caruana, F.
- Vachier Lagrave, M. – Vidit, S.
- Vachier Lagrave, M. – Bacrot, E.
- Rakhmanov, A. – Bacrot, E.
- Vachier Lagrave, M. – Sargissian, G.
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 26, 2026
Overview
French Defense: Steiner Variation (ECO C00, Open Games) is a variation of the French Defense, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. c4 (2 moves).
In 4,067,005 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.6%, Black 44.6% and 4.8% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 2…d5, in 56% of those games.
It continues into one named variation, French Defense: Orthoschnapp Gambit.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
Write a description or report a mistake
How to play against the French Defense: Steiner Variation
2…c5 scores best for Black: 49.2%, with Black winning 46.8% and White 48.4% of 499K games. The most played, 2…d5, scores 47.0% in 2.3M games, and 2…c6 scores lowest: 46.6%. Stockfish's first choice is 2…d5.
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
Popularity by year
The French Defense: Steiner Variation dipped to 0.14% of Lichess games in 2019 and has recovered since: 0.16% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.14% | 50,610 |
| 2017 | 0.15% | 82,087 |
| 2018 | 0.15% | 115,561 |
| 2019 | 0.14% | 176,426 |
| 2020 | 0.14% | 418,073 |
| 2021 | 0.16% | 623,302 |
| 2022 | 0.16% | 598,626 |
| 2023 | 0.16% | 609,874 |
| 2024 | 0.16% | 577,308 |
| 2025 | 0.16% | 565,180 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.16% | 178,443 |
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
Variations (1)
Transpositions
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “French Defense: Steiner Variation (C00)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-steiner-variation