Polish Opening: Schiffler-Sokolsky Variation
1. b4 e6 2. Bb2 Nf6 3. b5 d5 4. e3
The Polish Opening: Schiffler-Sokolsky Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A00, reached after 1. b4 e6 2. Bb2 Nf6 3. b5 d5 4. e3. It is a line of the Polish Opening. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 198 times by this move order. White won 52%, 6% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 4… c5 (27% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.03 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 4… Bd6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. c4 Nbd7 7. cxd5)
- ECO
- A00
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/4pn2/1P1p4/8/4P3/PBPP1PPP/RN1QKBNR b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. b4 e6 2. Bb2 Nf6 3. b5 d5 4. e3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 18 | |
| 1500-1999 | 139 | |
| 2000+ | 41 | |
| All | 198 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… c5 | 53 (27%) | |
| 4… Bd7 | 34 (17%) | |
| 4… Bd6 | 31 (16%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 26 (13%) | |
| 4… c6 | 20 (10%) | |
| 4… a6 | 16 (8%) | |
| 4… Nbd7 | 6 (3%) | |
| 4… b6 | 5 (3%) |
Master games
36 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 11%, Black 56%). The strongest:
- GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2674) – GM Frederik Svane (2600) 1-0 · Titled Tue 4th Apr Late · 2023-04-04
- IM Mark Timmermans (2405) – IM Marco Materia (2489) 0-1 · Titled Tue 10th Jun Late · 2025-06-10
- IM Yuliia Osmak (2419) – IM Nataliya Buksa (2401) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 21st Dec · 2021-12-21
- CM Robert-Gabriel Sava (2181) – GM Kiril Georgiev (2526) 0-1 · Craiova Grand Prix Rapid · 2025-09-14
- IM Yuliia Osmak (2425) – IM Maka Purtseladze (2274) 1-0 · Women's Speed Chess Q4 KO · 2021-06-03
Search all games of the Polish Opening: Schiffler-Sokolsky Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- ZugZwischenZwang (2551) – L73_skf (2332) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 600 + 0s
- IM Tello71 (2443) – doclex (2401) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- InBrTgAaaL (2214) – arab-poet (2355) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Polish Opening 1. b4
More Polish Opening lines (all)
- Polish Opening: Baltic Defense A00
- Polish Opening: Birmingham Gambit A00
- Polish Opening: Bugayev Advance Variation A00
- Polish Opening: Bugayev Attack A00
- Polish Opening: Czech Defense A00
- Polish Opening: Dutch Defense A00
- Polish Opening: German Defense A00
- Polish Opening: Grigorian Variation A00
- Polish Opening: Karniewski Variation A00
- Polish Opening: King's Indian Variation A00
- Polish Opening: King's Indian Variation, Schiffler Attack A00
- Polish Opening: King's Indian Variation, Sokolsky Attack A00
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.