Tree path 7 levels French Defense › Normal Variation › French Defense › Paulsen Variation › French Defense: Classical Variation › Steinitz Variation › French Defense: Steinitz Variation
- Chess Codex
- French Defense C00
- Normal Variation C00
- French Defense C00
- Paulsen Variation C10
- French Defense: Classical Variation C11
- Steinitz Variation C11
- French Defense: Steinitz Variation C11 you are here
French Defense: Steinitz Variation
Overview
French Defense: Steinitz Variation is a variation within the Open Games family, indexed as ECO C11.
The Open Games group covers open games — classical 1.e4 e5 openings where both sides contest the centre directly with pawns.
It is reached after 11 plies of play, with the move sequence 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3.
It is a variation of French Defense: Classical Variation, Steinitz Variation, which itself descends from the root opening French Defense.
It continues primarily into one named line, Boleslavsky Variation.
Step through the moves on the interactive board below, review the live Lichess statistics, or play this position against Stockfish at one of six difficulty levels.
- ECO code
- C11
- Group
- Open Games (C)
- Plies
- 11
- Direct variations
- 1
This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.
Statistics from Lichess
1,756,464 games · White 48.7% / Draw 5.4% / Black 45.9%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Nc6 | 1,417,795 | |
| cxd4 | 186,482 | |
| Qb6 | 55,773 | |
| a6 | 52,450 | |
| Be7 | 20,636 | |
| b6 | 7,297 | |
| g6 | 4,728 | |
| c4 | 4,623 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 02:27:16
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