B24

Sicilian Defense: Closed 4. Bg2 Bg7

Also known as Closed Sicilian

Chess diagram: Sicilian Defense: Closed after 4…Bg7

Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.

Statistics from Lichess

1,315,772 games: White 49.4% / Draw 6.1% / Black 44.5%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	776,124776K
	414,233414K
	80,20280K
	21,08321K
	9,6799,679
	4,9284,928
	2,7182,718
	2,4152,415

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026

Engine evaluation

−0.03 The position is about equal

Best play: 5. d3 d6 6. Nge2 Rb8 7. a4 e5 8. Nd5 Nge7 9. Nec3 O-O

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 50% under 1400, 48% at 2200 and up and 54% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	18K
1400–1799	154K
1800–2199	778K
2200 and up	424K
Masters, over the board	7,400

Master games

Nepomniachtchi, I. – Vachier Lagrave, M. ½–½, 2020
Mamedyarov, S. – Wang Yue 1–0, 2014
Short, N. – Nakamura, H. 0–1, 2013
Adams, M. – Kramnik, V. ½–½, 1999
Adams, M. – Anand, V. 1–0, 1998

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 27, 2026

Overview

Sicilian Defense: Closed (ECO B24, Semi-Open Games) is a variation of the Sicilian Defense: Closed, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 (4 moves).

In 1,315,772 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.4%, Black 44.5% and 6.1% were drawn. White's most played move here is 5. d3, in 59% of those games.

It branches into 2 named variations; the most played is Sicilian Defense: Closed, Smyslov Variation. In all, 7 named lines continue from it.

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Description

How to answer 4…Bg7

The most played answer, 5. d3, also scores best for White: 53.4%, with White winning 50.3% and Black 43.6% of 776K games. Of the main answers, 5. f4 scores lowest: 50.4%. Stockfish's first choice is also 5. d3.

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

This line peaked in 2020 at 0.066% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.05% in 2025.

0.046%0.05%0.066%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.046%	16,315
2017	0.051%	28,191
2018	0.059%	46,145
2019	0.063%	78,802
2020	0.066%	192,031
2021	0.049%	191,602
2022	0.045%	169,825
2023	0.046%	174,031
2024	0.046%	164,760
2025	0.05%	173,223
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.054%	59,448

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 (2)

All 7 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Sicilian Defense: Closed (B24)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/sicilian-defense-closed-5