Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation 5…g6 6. Be3
Also known as Dragon Sicilian
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Statistics from Lichess
2,460,239 games: White 47.4% / Draw 5.5% / Black 47.1%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 2,345,7412.3M | ||
| 45,26945K | ||
| 44,77045K | ||
| 15,18115K | ||
| 3,8853,885 | ||
| 1,9251,925 | ||
| 1,1201,120 | ||
| 845845 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.55 White is slightly better
Best play: 6... Bg7 7. f3 Nc6 8. Qd2 O-O 9. O-O-O d5 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nxc6
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
The stronger the players, the worse this line does for White: White scores 53% under 1400, 50% at 2200 and up and 60% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 64K | |
| 1400–1799 | 539K | |
| 1800–2199 | 1.5M | |
| 2200 and up | 586K | |
| Masters, over the board | 15K |
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
Overview
Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation (ECO B72, Semi-Open Games) is a variation of the Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 (6 moves).
In 2,460,239 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 47.4%, Black 47.1% and 5.5% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 6…Bg7, in 95% of those games.
It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Early Deviations and Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation. In all, 22 named lines continue from it.
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Popularity by year
This line has lost ground since 2016: 0.076% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.1% (its peak: 0.13% in 2018).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.1% | 37,159 |
| 2017 | 0.12% | 65,464 |
| 2018 | 0.13% | 104,612 |
| 2019 | 0.12% | 145,149 |
| 2020 | 0.13% | 386,375 |
| 2021 | 0.11% | 412,432 |
| 2022 | 0.089% | 333,959 |
| 2023 | 0.082% | 308,756 |
| 2024 | 0.08% | 288,240 |
| 2025 | 0.076% | 263,133 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.072% | 79,042 |
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 (3)
All 22 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
- B72 Classical Variation 7 moves
- B75 Yugoslav Attack, Early Deviations 7 moves
- B75 Yugoslav Attack, Hungarian Dragon 7 moves
- B72 Classical Variation 7 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
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation (B72)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/sicilian-defense-dragon-variation-2