Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Early Deviations
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Statistics from Lichess
2,110,243 games: White 49.4% / Draw 5.5% / Black 45.0%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack | 1,592,1781.6M | |
| Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Belezky Line | 357,901358K | |
| 93,44093K | ||
| 24,92325K | ||
| 16,15616K | ||
| 11,37411K | ||
| 3,0633,063 | ||
| 2,6282,628 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 2, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.38 White is slightly better
Best play: 7... Nc6 8. Qd2 O-O 9. O-O-O d5 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bd4
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 59% 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 | 28K | |
| 1400–1799 | 349K | |
| 1800–2199 | 1.3M | |
| 2200 and up | 544K | |
| Masters, over the board | 13K |
Master games
- Karjakin, S. – Carlsen, M.
- Grischuk, A. – Carlsen, M.
- Anand, V. – Carlsen, M.
- Dominguez Perez, L. – Carlsen, M.
- Caruana, F. – 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, Yugoslav Attack, Early Deviations (ECO B75, 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 Bg7 7. f3 (7 moves).
In 2,110,243 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.4%, Black 45.0% and 5.5% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 7…O-O, in 75% of those games.
It branches into 2 named variations; the most played are Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack and Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Belezky Line. In all, 17 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
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How to play against the Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Early Deviations
7…Nc6 (Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Belezky Line) scores best for Black: 48.1%, with Black winning 45.3% and White 49.1% of 358K games. The most played answer, 7…O-O, scores lowest: 48.0% in 1.6M games. Stockfish's first choice is also 7…Nc6.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black'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, Yugoslav Attack, Early Deviations has lost ground since 2016: 0.068% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.086% (its peak: 0.11% in 2018).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.086% | 30,853 |
| 2017 | 0.098% | 54,172 |
| 2018 | 0.11% | 87,964 |
| 2019 | 0.096% | 120,150 |
| 2020 | 0.11% | 317,037 |
| 2021 | 0.087% | 340,016 |
| 2022 | 0.077% | 290,054 |
| 2023 | 0.073% | 275,205 |
| 2024 | 0.072% | 258,096 |
| 2025 | 0.068% | 234,787 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.064% | 70,486 |
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 17 named lines that continue from here
- B76 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack 7 moves
- B75 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Belezky Line 7 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, Yugoslav Attack, Early Deviations (B75)”. Lichess data as of 2 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/sicilian-defense-dragon-variation-yugoslav-attack-early-deviations