Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon
Also known as Accelerated Fianchetto
The Accelerated Dragon (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6) is a Sicilian Defense in which Black fianchettoes the king's bishop, as in the Dragon Variation, but leaves the d-pawn at home. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
8,961,410 games: White 46.6% / Draw 5.4% / Black 47.9%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Modern Variation | 4,139,2434.1M | |
| Exchange Variation | 1,561,4211.6M | |
| 1,143,4191.1M | ||
| Maróczy Bind | 1,133,4501.1M | |
| 308,380308K | ||
| 255,861256K | ||
| 95,55896K | ||
| 71,34871K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 7, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.43 White is slightly better
Best play: 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 d6 7. f3 Bg7 8. Be3 O-O 9. Be2 Nh5
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: Black scores 52% under 1400, 50% at 2200 and up and 44% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 642K | |
| 1400–1799 | 4.1M | |
| 1800–2199 | 5.3M | |
| 2200 and up | 932K | |
| Masters, over the board | 14K |
Master games
- Caruana, F. – Carlsen, M.
- Erigaisi, A. – Carlsen, M.
- Morozevich, A. – Carlsen, M.
- Giri, A. – Carlsen, M.
- Kasparov, G. – Kasimdzhanov, R.
Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 26, 2026
Description
The Accelerated Dragon (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6) is a Sicilian Defense in which Black fianchettoes the king's bishop, as in the Dragon Variation, but leaves the d-pawn at home. That lets Black play ...d5 in one move when the chance comes.
The idea
Skipping ...d6 is the point of the move order. If White tries a Yugoslav Attack set-up with 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.f3 O-O 8.Qd2, Black equalises at once with 8...d5!. When White does play 5.Nc3, it is usually with 6.Be3, 7.Bc4 and 8.Bb3, guarding against tricks with ...Nxe4 and ...d5, followed by kingside castling.
Main lines
- 5.c4, the Maróczy Bind, the critical test of Black's move order. White's pawns on c4 and e4 restrain ...d5 and ...b5 and try to cramp Black. Play is less tactical than in many Sicilians, with a lot of strategic manoeuvring. The main line is 5...Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 O-O 8.Be2 d6 9.O-O; 7...Ng4 is the Breyer Variation in this database.
- 5.Nc3, the Modern Variation, usually with 5...Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 (Modern Bc4 Variation).
- 5.Nxc6, the Exchange Variation.
- The same positions can be reached through the Hyperaccelerated Dragon, 2...g6.
Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
- Black can answer the Yugoslav Attack set-up with an immediate ...d5.
- A Dragon-style fianchetto with the bishop on g7.
Weaknesses
- The Maróczy Bind (5.c4) restrains Black's ...d5 and ...b5 breaks.
- Positions after 5.c4 call for long strategic manoeuvring rather than tactics.
Who should play it
The Accelerated Dragon suits Black players who like the Dragon's fianchetto but want to avoid the sharpest Yugoslav Attack lines, and who are comfortable defending against the Maróczy Bind.
The numbers
On Lichess Black does better up to 2200: 50.6% against 46.0% under 1400, 49.0% against 47.0% at 1400–1799 and 47.9% against 46.6% at 1800–2199. From 2200 up the results are level, 45.9% for Black against 45.7%. In about 13,900 master games White won 34.4%, Black 23.0%, and 42.6% were drawn.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon
5. c4 (Maróczy Bind) scores best for White: 52.1%, with White winning 48.5% and Black 44.3% of 1.1M games. The most played, 5. Nc3, scores 50.3% in 4.1M games, and 5. Nxc6 scores lowest: 47.2%. Stockfish's first choice is also 5. c4.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings
Popularity by year
The Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon peaked in 2019 at 0.4% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.32% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.31% | 111,211 |
| 2017 | 0.35% | 195,061 |
| 2018 | 0.39% | 308,973 |
| 2019 | 0.4% | 503,198 |
| 2020 | 0.4% | 1,176,127 |
| 2021 | 0.36% | 1,422,004 |
| 2022 | 0.33% | 1,232,392 |
| 2023 | 0.32% | 1,213,491 |
| 2024 | 0.32% | 1,152,121 |
| 2025 | 0.32% | 1,120,506 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.35% | 378,601 |
Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling
Variations (4)
All 13 named lines that continue from here
- B34 Exchange Variation 5 moves
- B36 Maróczy Bind 5 moves
- B34 Modern Variation 5 moves
- B73 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation, Zollner Gambit 10 moves
- B37 Maróczy Bind 5 moves
- B36 Gurgenidze Variation 7 moves
- B35 Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon, Modern Bc4 Variation 7 moves
- B74 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation, Alekhine Line 9 moves
- B74 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation, Spielmann Variation 12 moves
- B38 Maróczy Bind 6 moves
- B37 Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon, Simagin Variation 7 moves
- B35 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Modern Bc4 Variation 7 moves
- B39 Breyer Variation 7 moves
Sources
- Theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Sicilian Defence, version of 27 October 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon (B32)”. Lichess data as of 7 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/sicilian-defense-accelerated-dragon