A00

Polish Opening: Schiffler-Sokolsky Variation

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Statistics from Lichess

364,371 games: White 49.6% / Draw 5.7% / Black 44.7%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	76,66877K
	65,17065K
	51,46951K
	38,01638K
	37,95138K
	36,93137K
	22,03622K
	11,17211K

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026

Engine evaluation

−0.06 The position is about equal

Best play: 4... Bd6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. c4 Nbd7 7. a4 Qe7 8. cxd5 exd5 9. 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 52% under 1400, 51% at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	16K
1400–1799	178K
1800–2199	223K
2200 and up	15K
Masters, over the board	68

Master games

Akopian, V. – Ganguly, S. S. 1–0, 2000
Paichadze, L. – Javakhishvili, L. 1–0, 2016
Rashkovsky, N. N. – Tseshkovsky, V. ½–½, 1989
Kural, A. S. – Dunlop, G. ½–½, 2020
Fernandez, D. S. – Arkell, K. ½–½, 2017

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

Polish Opening: Schiffler-Sokolsky Variation (ECO A00, Flank Openings) is a variation of the Polish Opening, reached after 1. b4 e6 2. Bb2 Nf6 3. b5 d5 4. e3 (4 moves).

In 364,371 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.6%, Black 44.7% and 5.7% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 4…Be7, in 21% of those games.

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Description

How to play against the Polish Opening: Schiffler-Sokolsky Variation

4…c5 scores best for Black: 49.9%, with Black winning 47.2% and White 47.4% of 65K games. The most played, 4…Be7, scores 48.0% in 77K games, and 4…Bd7 scores lowest: 44.7%. Stockfish's first choice is 4…Bd6.

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 Polish Opening: Schiffler-Sokolsky Variation peaked in 2017 at 0.018% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.015% in 2025.

0.016%0.015%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.016%	5,562
2017	0.018%	9,803
2018	0.016%	12,648
2019	0.016%	19,915
2020	0.013%	38,902
2021	0.013%	51,048
2022	0.014%	50,719
2023	0.014%	51,435
2024	0.014%	49,913
2025	0.015%	51,196
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.015%	16,127

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. “Polish Opening: Schiffler-Sokolsky Variation (A00)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/polish-opening-schiffler-sokolsky-variation