B90

Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, English Attack, Anti-English

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Statistics from Lichess

236,100 games: White 44.6% / Draw 5.4% / Black 50.0%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	86,87887K
	43,22743K
	32,93333K
	27,29527K
	13,68914K
	7,3737,373
	7,3017,301
	4,8834,883

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

Engine evaluation

+0.37 White is slightly better

Best play: 7. Bc1 Nf6 8. f3 e5 9. Nb3 Be6 10. Be3 h5 11. Qd2 Nbd7

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

By rating

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	1,755
1400–1799	45K
1800–2199	157K
2200 and up	42K
Masters, over the board	4,068

Master games

Carlsen, M. – Vachier Lagrave, M. 1–0, 2019
Carlsen, M. – Grischuk, A. ½–½, 2016
Shirov, A. – Kasparov, G. ½–½, 2000
Shirov, A. – Kasparov, G. ½–½, 2000
So, W. – Giri, A. ½–½, 2017

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: Najdorf Variation, English Attack, Anti-English (ECO B90, Semi-Open Games) is a variation of the Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, English Attack, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Ng4 (6 moves).

In 236,100 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 44.6%, Black 50.0% and 5.4% were drawn. White's most played move here is 7. Bg5, in 37% of those games.

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Description

How to play against the Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, English Attack, Anti-English

7. Bc1 scores best for White: 53.1%, with White winning 47.9% and Black 41.7% of 43K games. The most played, 7. Bg5, scores 51.3% in 87K games, and 7. Bf4 scores lowest: 28.2%. Stockfish's first choice is also 7. Bc1.

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: Najdorf Variation, English Attack, Anti-English is played less than half as often as in 2016: 0.0067% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.014%.

0.014%0.0067%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.014%	5,142
2017	0.015%	8,095
2018	0.014%	11,182
2019	0.013%	15,737
2020	0.012%	36,123
2021	0.0096%	37,625
2022	0.0084%	31,696
2023	0.0079%	29,801
2024	0.0074%	26,505
2025	0.0067%	23,119
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.0067%	7,371

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

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, English Attack, Anti-English (B90)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/sicilian-defense-najdorf-variation-english-attack-anti-english