B54

Sicilian Defense: Modern Variations, Main Line

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

Statistics from Lichess

28,284,302 games: White 47.2% / Draw 5.0% / Black 47.7%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	25,284,81625.3M
	1,386,6181.4M
Sicilian Defense: Prins Variation	844,573845K
	282,875283K
Sicilian Defense: Modern Variations, Ginsberg Gambit	179,691180K
	81,16581K
	36,95237K
	31,68632K

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 10, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.27 The position is about equal

Best play: 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3 Be7 9. Qd2 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 51% under 1400, 49% at 2200 and up and 47% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	1.4M
1400–1799	9.3M
1800–2199	17.2M
2200 and up	4.8M
Masters, over the board	172K

Master games

Carlsen, M. – Grischuk, A. 1–0, 2015
Ding, L. – Carlsen, M. 1–0, 2020
Carlsen, M. – Ding, L. 1–0, 2020
Ding, L. – Carlsen, M. 0–1, 2020
Carlsen, M. – Vachier Lagrave, M. 0–1, 2019

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: Modern Variations, Main Line (ECO B54, Semi-Open Games) is a variation of the Sicilian Defense, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 (4 moves).

In 28,284,302 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 47.2%, Black 47.7% and 5.0% were drawn. White's most played move here is 5. Nc3, in 89% of those games.

It branches into 7 named variations; the most played are Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation and Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation. In all, 94 named lines continue from it.

Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.

Write a description or report a mistake

What would you like to send? A description of this line A mistake on this page (moves, name, statistics…)

Markdown supported (headings ###, bold, lists, links). Submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Your name (optional) Your email (optional, not published)

Description

Popularity by year

The Sicilian Defense: Modern Variations, Main Line has lost ground since 2016: 0.86% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 1.2% (its peak: 1.5% in 2018).

1.2%0.86%1.5%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	1.2%	428,076
2017	1.4%	755,506
2018	1.5%	1,145,138
2019	1.4%	1,691,527
2020	1.4%	4,115,187
2021	1.2%	4,806,811
2022	1.1%	4,026,358
2023	0.97%	3,664,426
2024	0.93%	3,320,792
2025	0.86%	2,997,656
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.84%	921,009

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 (7)

All 94 named lines that continue from here

Loading sub-variations…

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Sicilian Defense: Modern Variations, Main Line (B54)”. Lichess data as of 10 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/sicilian-defense-modern-variations-main-line