French Defense: Steinitz Variation (5… Nfd7 6. a3)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 a6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7 6. a3
The French Defense: Steinitz Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C11, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 a6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7 6. a3. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move.
This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.
Engine evaluation: −0.11 (Stockfish, depth 28; best line 6… c5 7. Ne2 cxd4 8. Nexd4 Nc6 9. Nxc6)
- ECO
- C11
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/1ppn1ppp/p3p3/3pP3/3P4/P1N2N2/1PP2PPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 a6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7 6. a3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Comes from
French Defense: Steinitz Variation (5. e5 Nfd7) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 a6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7
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.