Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation
Also known as Dragon Sicilian
The Dragon Variation (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6) is one of the sharpest lines of the Sicilian Defense. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
6,121,612 games: White 46.1% / Draw 5.3% / Black 48.6%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| B72 | 2,454,7392.5M | |
| 814,619815K | ||
| 670,836671K | ||
| Classical Variation | 569,179569K | |
| 551,317551K | ||
| 284,141284K | ||
| Levenfish Variation | 267,680268K | |
| 177,423177K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 8, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.38 White is slightly better
Best play: 6. f3 Nc6 7. Be3 Bg7 8. Qd2 O-O 9. Bc4 Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Be6
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 51% under 1400, 50% at 2200 and up and 42% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 367K | |
| 1400–1799 | 2M | |
| 1800–2199 | 3.7M | |
| 2200 and up | 1.1M | |
| Masters, over the board | 20K |
Master games
- Karjakin, S. – Carlsen, M.
- Grischuk, A. – Carlsen, M.
- Anand, V. – Carlsen, M.
- Dominguez Perez, L. – Carlsen, M.
- Carlsen, M. – Nakamura, H.
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 Dragon Variation (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6) is one of the sharpest lines of the Sicilian Defense. Black fianchettoes the king's bishop on g7, where it bites along the long diagonal, and the game often turns into a race of attacks on opposite wings.
Origins
The German master Louis Paulsen began to play the modern Dragon around 1880. The Russian master Fyodor Dus-Chotimirsky wrote that he coined the name in 1901, because Black's kingside pawns reminded him of the constellation Draco. The earliest printed use of the name is from 1914. The Dragon featured in the 1974 Candidates final between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi. Garry Kasparov used it as a surprise weapon against Viswanathan Anand in their 1995 world championship match, scoring two wins and a draw. Veselin Topalov, Tony Miles and Eduard Gufeld are among its well-known exponents.
The idea
The g7-bishop is the heart of Black's position: it presses on d4, on the long diagonal and on White's queenside. Black plays on the half-open c-file, often with ...Rc8, ...Ne5–c4 and sometimes an exchange sacrifice on c3, and pushes the a- and b-pawns against White's king. White usually castles queenside and throws the h- and g-pawns at Black's king, trying to trade the g7-bishop with Be3–h6 and open the h-file.
Main lines
- Yugoslav Attack 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 O-O 8.Qd2 Nc6: one of the sharpest of all chess openings. White chooses between the main line with 9.Bc4 and 9.O-O-O, where Black often answers 9...d5.
- Classical Variation 6.Be2: the oldest reply and the second most common, with kingside castling.
- The Accelerated Dragon, which skips ...d6 to fight for ...d5 in one move, is a separate system.
Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
- Clear plans and dynamic counterplay for Black: the c-file, the g7-bishop and the queenside pawns.
- Very sharp positions where Black plays for a win.
- The ideas repeat from game to game, which helps players learn it.
Weaknesses
- The Yugoslav Attack is extremely dangerous.
- The theory is concrete and forcing, and many lines end in mate if one side is a tempo slow.
- Its popularity at top level declined from the late 1990s.
Who should play it
The Dragon is for tactical, attacking players who love opposite-side castling and are ready to learn sharp theory. It works well against opponents who play the calm 6.Be2 or who don't know the Yugoslav Attack in detail. It is at its riskiest against well-prepared players who go straight for Be3, f3, Qd2 and h4.
The numbers
On Lichess Black wins more often than White at every band: 49–49.5% against 46–47% below 2200, and 46.7% against 46.3% above it. Among masters over the board the picture changes: White wins 39%, Black 23% and 37.5% are drawn.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation
6. f3 scores best for White: 50.2%, with White winning 47.5% and Black 47.2% of 551K games. The most played, 6. Be3, scores 50.2% in 2.5M games, and 6. Bg5 scores lowest: 44.4%. Stockfish's first choice is also 6. f3.
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: Dragon Variation has lost ground since 2016: 0.19% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.26% (its peak: 0.32% in 2018).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.26% | 93,141 |
| 2017 | 0.3% | 162,987 |
| 2018 | 0.32% | 253,777 |
| 2019 | 0.29% | 360,659 |
| 2020 | 0.32% | 923,815 |
| 2021 | 0.26% | 1,032,555 |
| 2022 | 0.23% | 845,592 |
| 2023 | 0.21% | 778,398 |
| 2024 | 0.2% | 722,769 |
| 2025 | 0.19% | 658,772 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.18% | 198,564 |
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 32 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
- B72 Dragon Variation 6 moves
- B70 Classical Variation 6 moves
- B70 Fianchetto Variation 6 moves
- B71 Levenfish Variation 6 moves
- B73 Classical Variation 8 moves
- B72 Classical Variation 7 moves
- B73 Battery Variation 9 moves
- B74 Normal Line 9 moves
- B71 Main Line 6 moves
- B75 Yugoslav Attack, Early Deviations 7 moves
- B75 Yugoslav Attack, Hungarian Dragon 7 moves
- B72 Classical Variation 7 moves
- B74 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation, Maróczy Line 10 moves
- B74 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation, Tartakower Line 10 moves
- B76 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack 7 moves
- B75 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Belezky Line 7 moves
- B72 Classical Variation 8 moves
- B76 Yugoslav Attack 8 moves
- B77 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Czerniak Variation 10 moves
- B76 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Modern Line 9 moves
- B77 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Sosonko Variation 9 moves
- B77 Main Line 9 moves
- B76 Panov Variation 9 moves
- B77 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack 9 moves
- B77 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Byrne Variation 9 moves
- B78 Yugoslav Attack 10 moves
- B79 Yugoslav Attack 12 moves
- B77 Main Line 10 moves
- B78 Chinese Dragon 10 moves
- B78 Old Line 10 moves
- B79 Soltis Variation 12 moves
- B78 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Topalov Variation 12 moves
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Sicilian Defence, Dragon Variation, version of 30 August 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: Dragon Variation (B70)”. Lichess data as of 8 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/sicilian-defense-dragon-variation