B76

Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack 8. Qd2 Nc6

Chess diagram: Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack after 8…Nc6

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Statistics from Lichess

1,885,224 games: White 50.4% / Draw 5.5% / Black 44.1%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Modern Line	1,150,6171.2M
Main Line	380,345380K
Panov Variation	182,372182K
	43,75844K
	40,37740K
	38,26138K
	28,41628K
	8,3668,366

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

Engine evaluation

+0.43 White is slightly better

Best play: 9. O-O-O d5 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bd4 Bxd4 13. Qxd4 Qb6

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 better this line does for Black: Black scores 40% under 1400, 49% at 2200 and up and 39% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	18K
1400–1799	318K
1800–2199	1.2M
2200 and up	458K
Masters, over the board	12K

Master games

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: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack (ECO B76, Semi-Open Games) is a variation of the Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 (8 moves).

In 1,885,224 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.4%, Black 44.1% and 5.5% were drawn. White's most played move here is 9. O-O-O, in 61% of those games.

It branches into 2 named variations; the most played are Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Main Line and Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Panov Variation. In all, 11 named lines continue from it.

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Description

How to answer 8…Nc6

9. g4 (Panov Variation) scores best for White: 54.2%, with White winning 51.5% and Black 43.2% of 182K games. The most played, 9. O-O-O, scores 53.5% in 1.2M games, and 9. Bc4 scores lowest: 53.4%. Stockfish's first choice is 9. O-O-O.

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 has lost ground since 2016: 0.062% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.075% (its peak: 0.098% in 2018).

0.075%0.062%0.098%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.075%	26,936
2017	0.086%	47,116
2018	0.098%	76,723
2019	0.088%	109,233
2020	0.094%	276,468
2021	0.076%	298,031
2022	0.069%	260,427
2023	0.066%	246,821
2024	0.065%	232,572
2025	0.062%	215,459
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.06%	66,333

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)

Transpositions

B76 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Modern Line after 9. O-O-O

All 11 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack (B76)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/sicilian-defense-dragon-variation-yugoslav-attack-2