French Defense: Steinitz Variation 5…c5 6. Nf3
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
1,756,464 games: White 48.7% / Draw 5.4% / Black 45.9%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 1,417,7951.4M | ||
| 186,482186K | ||
| 55,77356K | ||
| 52,45052K | ||
| 20,63621K | ||
| 7,2977,297 | ||
| 4,7284,728 | ||
| 4,6234,623 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 1, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.34 White is slightly better
Best play: 6... cxd4 7. Nb5 Qa5+ 8. Bd2 Qb6 9. Nbxd4 Nc6 10. c3 Nc5 11. Qc2
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
The stronger the players, the better this line does for White: White scores 48% under 1400, 52% at 2200 and up and 58% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 13K | |
| 1400–1799 | 250K | |
| 1800–2199 | 1.1M | |
| 2200 and up | 458K | |
| Masters, over the board | 14K |
Master games
- Karjakin, S. – Carlsen, M.
- Kasparov, G. – Caruana, F.
- Caruana, F. – Carlsen, M.
- Carlsen, M. – Morozevich, A.
- Dominguez Perez, L. – Caruana, F.
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: Steinitz Variation (ECO C11, Open Games) is a variation of the French Defense: Classical Variation, Steinitz Variation, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 (6 moves).
In 1,756,464 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.7%, Black 45.9% and 5.4% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 6…Nc6, in 81% of those games.
It continues into one named variation, French Defense: Steinitz Variation, Boleslavsky Variation.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
Write a description or report a mistake
How to answer 6. Nf3
The most played answer, 6…Nc6, also scores best for Black: 49.0%, with Black winning 46.2% and White 48.3% of 1.4M games. Of the main answers, 6…cxd4 scores lowest: 47.3%. Stockfish's first choice is 6…cxd4.
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
This line peaked in 2018 at 0.099% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.069% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.062% | 22,202 |
| 2017 | 0.083% | 45,583 |
| 2018 | 0.099% | 77,965 |
| 2019 | 0.083% | 104,086 |
| 2020 | 0.079% | 232,343 |
| 2021 | 0.062% | 241,328 |
| 2022 | 0.058% | 218,906 |
| 2023 | 0.062% | 234,892 |
| 2024 | 0.065% | 232,115 |
| 2025 | 0.069% | 237,749 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.073% | 79,597 |
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)
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “French Defense: Steinitz Variation (C11)”. Lichess data as of 1 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/french-defense-steinitz-variation-2