French Defense: Steinitz Attack
1. e4 e6 2. e5
The French Defense: Steinitz Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C00, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. e5. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 19,910 times by this move order. White won 47%, 4% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 2… d5 (52% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.24 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 2… c5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. c3 d6 5. exd6)
- ECO
- C00
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/4p3/4P3/8/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. e5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 12,285 | |
| 1500-1999 | 7,085 | |
| 2000+ | 540 | |
| All | 19,910 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… d5 | 10,328 (52%) | |
| 2… d6 | 2,510 (13%) | |
| 2… Nc6 | 1,502 (8%) | |
| 2… c5 | 1,296 (7%) | |
| 2… b6 | 855 (4%) | |
| 2… c6 | 773 (4%) | |
| 2… Bc5 | 416 (2%) | |
| 2… f6 | 336 (2%) |
Master games
188 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 34%, draw 17%, Black 49%). The strongest:
- GM Dmitry Andreikin (2724) – GM Alexander Rustemov (2525) 1-0 · Titled Tue 15th Feb Late · 2022-02-15
- FM Oleg Rychkov (2407) – GM Matthias Bluebaum (2647) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 23rd June · 2020-06-23
- GM Nikola Sedlak (2605) – FM Julius Muckle (2373) 1-0 · 10th Pfalz Open 2019 · 2019-03-05
- IM Petro Golubka (2478) – GM Orest Gritsak (2464) 1-0 · SS Manhem GM 2018 · 2018-08-11
- GM Sebastien Feller (2568) – IM Aurelien Crut (2359) 1-0 · TCh-FRA 16 La Bourdonnais · 2021-01-09
Search all games of the French Defense: Steinitz Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM Monkey_King (2547) – IM Tahaned2015 (2576) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- IM Monkey_King (2536) – Ptiphantom (2397) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Z-Chess1 (2442) – SelfMicroBiolog (2357) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense (1. e4 e6) 1. e4 e6
More French Defense lines (all)
- 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
- French Defense: Franco-Hiva Gambit Accepted 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.