French Defense: Steinitz Variation (5… c5 6. Nf3)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3
The French Defense: Steinitz Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C11, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3. It is a line of the French Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 3,460 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 6… Nc6 (82% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.37 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6… Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qd2 O-O 9. dxc5)
- ECO
- C11
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp1n1ppp/4p3/2ppP3/3P1P2/2N2N2/PPP3PP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 1 6- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 58 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,367 | |
| 2000+ | 2,035 | |
| All | 3,460 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Nc6 | 2,827 (82%) | |
| 6… cxd4 | 371 (11%) | |
| 6… Qb6 | 114 (3%) | |
| 6… a6 | 90 (3%) | |
| 6… Be7 | 28 (1%) | |
| 6… b6 | 10 (0%) | |
| 6… g6 | 8 (0%) | |
| 6… c4 | 7 (0%) |
Master games
1,296 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 23%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2785) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2791) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Rapid 2014 · 2014-06-18
- GM Gata Kamsky (2762) – GM Teimour Radjabov (2793) 1-0 · SportAccord Blitz Men 2012 · 2012-12-17
- GM Anish Giri (2790) – GM Pentala Harikrishna (2763) 0-1 · 4th Norway Chess 2016 · 2016-04-25
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2789) – GM Levon Aronian (2744) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Finals 2025 · 2025-09-28
- GM Peter Leko (2740) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2787) 1/2-1/2 · 41st Olympiad Open 2014 · 2014-08-10
Search all games of the French Defense: Steinitz Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- evg85 (2817) – Sunrise34 (2857) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- evg85 (2795) – Sunrise34 (2849) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- evg85 (2799) – FM Guary1 (2794) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Classical Variation, Steinitz Variation (3… Nf6 4. e5) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5
Continuations
- French Defense: Steinitz Variation, Boleslavsky Variation C11 · 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3
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.