French Defense: Steinitz Variation, Boleslavsky Variation
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3
The French Defense: Steinitz Variation, Boleslavsky 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 Nc6 7. Be3. 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 2,246 times by this move order. White won 51%, 6% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 7… Qb6 (28% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.17 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 7… cxd4 8. Nxd4 Qb6 9. Qd2 Qxb2 10. Rb1)
- ECO
- C11
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pp1n1ppp/2n1p3/2ppP3/3P1P2/2N1BN2/PPP3PP/R2QKB1R b KQkq - 3 7- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 22 | |
| 1500-1999 | 738 | |
| 2000+ | 1,486 | |
| All | 2,246 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… Qb6 | 624 (28%) | |
| 7… cxd4 | 600 (27%) | |
| 7… a6 | 481 (21%) | |
| 7… Be7 | 312 (14%) | |
| 7… Rb8 | 65 (3%) | |
| 7… h6 | 38 (2%) | |
| 7… Qa5 | 32 (1%) | |
| 7… b6 | 25 (1%) |
Master games
11,114 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 25%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) – LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-23
- LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) – Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-22
- LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) – Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-08-01
- KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) – Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) 1-0 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-13
- Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) – KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) 1-0 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-13
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: Steinitz Variation (5… c5 6. Nf3) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3
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.