Alekhine Defense: Steiner Variation
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. b3
The Alekhine Defense: Steiner Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B02, reached after 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. b3. It is a line of the Alekhine Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 279 times by this move order. White won 46%, 5% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 4… d6 (61% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.21 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 4… d6 5. exd6 Qxd6 6. d4 Nc6 7. Nf3)
- ECO
- B02
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/1n6/4P3/2P5/1P6/P2P1PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. b3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 77 | |
| 1500-1999 | 140 | |
| 2000+ | 62 | |
| All | 279 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… d6 | 169 (61%) | |
| 4… e6 | 31 (11%) | |
| 4… d5 | 24 (9%) | |
| 4… g6 | 19 (7%) | |
| 4… c5 | 17 (6%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 16 (6%) | |
| 4… a5 | 2 (1%) | |
| 4… c6 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
30 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 17%, Black 43%). The strongest:
- FM Timur Kocharin (2374) – GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2604) 0-1 · Titled Tue 28th Jul 2026 · 2026-07-28
- Aleksandr Kocheev (2315) – Valery Sviridov (2556) 0-1 · 2nd European Corporate · 2019-08-30
- Maljush, A. (2285) – GM Adam Tukhaev (2564) 0-1 · European Blitz 2015 · 2015-12-18
- IM Paulo Bersamina (2378) – GM Eugenio Torre (2446) 1/2-1/2 · ch-PHI 2016 · 2016-06-21
- FM Maljush, A. (2290) – GM Mikhail Demidov (2530) 0-1 · Malaya Zemlya Blitz 2021 · 2021-07-09
Search all games of the Alekhine Defense: Steiner Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- alizem2013 (2529) – Lauris_Laimins (2534) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Servantik1979 (2530) – ivanoobsky (2508) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- vdinsk52 (2521) – Windfacker (2460) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Alekhine Defense: Two Pawns Attack 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4
More Alekhine Defense lines (all)
- Alekhine Defense (1. e4 Nf6) B02
- Alekhine Defense: Brooklyn Variation B02
- Alekhine Defense: Brooklyn Variation, Everglades Variation B02
- Alekhine Defense: Buckley Attack B02
- Alekhine Defense: Hunt Variation, Lasker Simul Gambit B02
- Alekhine Defense: Hunt Variation, Matsukevich Gambit B02
- Alekhine Defense: Hunt Variation, Mikenas Gambit B02
- Alekhine Defense: Kmoch Variation B02
- Alekhine Defense: Krejcik Variation B02
- Alekhine Defense: Krejcik Variation, Krejcik Gambit B02
- Alekhine Defense: Maróczy Variation B02
- Alekhine Defense: Mokele Mbembe B02
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.