French Defense: Classical Variation, Steinitz Variation (3… Nf6 4. e5)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5
The French Defense: Classical Variation, Steinitz Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C11, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move. 5 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 8,948 times by this move order. White won 48%, 5% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 4… Nfd7 (92% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.39 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 4… Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3)
- ECO
- C11
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/4pn2/3pP3/3P4/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 731 | |
| 1500-1999 | 4,361 | |
| 2000+ | 3,856 | |
| All | 8,948 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Nfd7 | 8,261 (92%) | |
| 4… Ng8 | 380 (4%) | |
| 4… Ne4 | 283 (3%) | |
| 4… Ng4 | 8 (0%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 6 (0%) | |
| 4… Bb4 | 2 (0%) | |
| 4… c5 | 2 (0%) | |
| 4… g5 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
1,441 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 14%, Black 42%). The strongest:
- Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) – LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-08-01
- Stockfish dev-20230903-b25d68f6 (3666) – Stoofvlees II b5 (3492) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
- Stoofvlees II b5 (3492) – Stockfish dev-20230903-b25d68f6 (3666) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
- Berserk13 (3540) – StoofvleesII d2 (3479) 1-0 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-05-05
- StoofvleesII d2 (3479) – Berserk13 (3540) 1-0 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-05-03
Highest-rated Lichess games
- puziko52 (2854) – FM Guary1 (2884) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- evg85 (2817) – Sunrise34 (2857) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- evg85 (2795) – Sunrise34 (2849) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Classical Variation (3. Nc3 Nf6) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6
Continuations
- French Defense: Classical Variation, Shirov-Anand Variation C11 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Nce2
- French Defense: Steinitz Variation, Gledhill Attack C11 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Qg4
- French Defense: Steinitz Variation (5… c5 6. Nf3) C11 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3
- French Defense: Steinitz Variation (6. dxc5 Nc6) C11 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. dxc5 Nc6
- French Defense: Steinitz Variation, Bradford Attack Variation C11 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. dxc5 Bxc5 7. Qg4
More French Defense lines (all)
- French Defense (1. e4 e6) C00
- French Defense (2. d4 d5) C00
- French Defense: Alapin Gambit C00
- French Defense: Baeuerle Gambit C00
- French Defense: Banzai-Leong Gambit C00
- French Defense: Banzai-Leong Gambit, Pinova Gambit C00
- French Defense: Bird Invitation C00
- French Defense: Carlson Gambit C00
- French Defense: Chigorin Variation C00
- French Defense: Diemer-Duhm Gambit C00
- French Defense: Diemer-Duhm Gambit Accepted C00
- French Defense: Franco-Hiva Gambit C00
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.