Tree path 4 levels King's Pawn Game › Sicilian Defense › Sicilian Defense › O'Kelly Variation

B28

Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation

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Overview

Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation is a variation within the Semi-Open Games family, indexed as ECO B28.

The Semi-Open Games group covers semi-open games — replies to 1.e4 where Black declines the symmetrical 1…e5 in favour of an asymmetric pawn structure.

Play reaches this position via 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6, after 4 plies of opening development.

It is a variation of Sicilian Defense, which itself descends from the root opening King's Pawn Game.

It is the root of 9 named variations, with Aronin System, Kieseritzky System, Maróczy Bind, and others among the most studied.

In total, the branch covers 19 sub-variations across all depths.

Step through the moves on the interactive board below, review the live Lichess statistics, or play this position against Stockfish at one of six difficulty levels.

ECO code: B28
Group: Semi-Open Games (B)
Plies: 4
Parent: Sicilian Defense
Direct variations: 9
Total in subtree: 19

This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Statistics from Lichess

4,703,886 games · White 46.9% / Draw 4.9% / Black 48.2%

Moves	Games	W / D / B
d4	2,383,031
c3	692,475
Bc4	406,882
Nc3	349,834
c4	256,403
a4	185,114
g3	89,784
d3	79,619

Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:00:17

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Variations (9)

Show all 19 sub-variations (full subtree)

Overview

Statistics from Lichess

Variations (9)

Related variations at the same level