Sicilian Defense: Open 3…cxd4 4. Nxd4
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Statistics from Lichess
39,658,477 games: White 48.1% / Draw 5.1% / Black 46.7%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Sicilian Defense: Löwenthal Variation | 10,512,36710.5M | |
| B33 | 8,631,7658.6M | |
| Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon | 7,873,2877.9M | |
| Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation | 4,103,5954.1M | |
| 3,492,4503.5M | ||
| 2,306,3842.3M | ||
| 1,225,1351.2M | ||
| Sicilian Defense: Godiva Variation | 760,646761K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.26 The position is about equal
Best play: 4... Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: White scores 51% both under 1400 and at 2200 and up, and 53% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 3.4M | |
| 1400–1799 | 19.3M | |
| 1800–2199 | 23.7M | |
| 2200 and up | 3.3M | |
| Masters, over the board | 78K |
Master games
- Caruana, F. – Carlsen, M.
- Caruana, F. – Carlsen, M.
- Caruana, F. – Carlsen, M.
- Caruana, F. – Carlsen, M.
- Caruana, F. – Carlsen, M.
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: Open (ECO B32, Semi-Open Games) is a variation of the Sicilian Defense: Open, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 (4 moves).
In 39,658,477 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.1%, Black 46.7% and 5.1% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 4…e5, in 27% of those games.
It branches into 7 named variations; the most played are Sicilian Defense: Löwenthal Variation and Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon. In all, 50 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 answer 4. Nxd4
4…Nf6 scores best for Black: 51.0%, with Black winning 48.3% and White 46.2% of 8.6M games. The most played, 4…e5, scores 49.0% in 10.5M games, and 4…Nxd4 scores lowest: 42.7%. Stockfish's first choice is also 4…Nf6.
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
This line peaked in 2019 at 1.9% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 1.4% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1.5% | 524,286 |
| 2017 | 1.6% | 879,815 |
| 2018 | 1.7% | 1,337,955 |
| 2019 | 1.9% | 2,408,802 |
| 2020 | 1.8% | 5,348,041 |
| 2021 | 1.6% | 6,355,779 |
| 2022 | 1.5% | 5,620,210 |
| 2023 | 1.4% | 5,402,318 |
| 2024 | 1.4% | 4,985,816 |
| 2025 | 1.4% | 4,690,457 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 1.4% | 1,485,420 |
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)
Transpositions
All 50 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
- B32 Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon 4 moves
- B32 Sicilian Defense: Flohr Variation 4 moves
- B32 Sicilian Defense: Godiva Variation 4 moves
- B32 Sicilian Defense: Löwenthal Variation 4 moves
- B32 Sicilian Defense: Nimzo-American Variation 4 moves
- B32 Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation, Maróczy Bind, Geller Line 5 moves
- B33 Open 4 moves
- B34 Exchange Variation 5 moves
- B36 Maróczy Bind 5 moves
- B34 Modern Variation 5 moves
- B59 Sicilian Defense: Boleslavsky Variation 7 moves
- B58 Sicilian Defense: Boleslavsky Variation, Louma Variation 7 moves
- B57 Sicilian Defense: Classical Variation, Anti-Sozin Variation 6 moves
- B72 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation, Amsterdam Variation 8 moves
- B73 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation, Zollner Gambit 10 moves
- B32 Sicilian Defense: Kalashnikov Variation 5 moves
- B33 Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation 5 moves
- B57 Sicilian Defense: Magnus Smith Trap 8 moves
- B64 Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Classical Variation 9 moves
- B60 Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Dragon Variation 6 moves
- B61 Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Modern Variation 7 moves
- B67 Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Neo-Modern Variation 8 moves
- B62 Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Podebrady Variation 7 moves
- B88 Sicilian Defense: Sozin Attack, Leonhardt Variation 6 moves
- B56 Sicilian Defense: Spielmann Variation 6 moves
- B56 Sicilian Defense: Yates Variation 6 moves
- B37 Maróczy Bind 5 moves
- B36 Gurgenidze Variation 7 moves
- B35 Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon, Modern Bc4 Variation 7 moves
- B74 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation, Alekhine Line 9 moves
- B72 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation, Grigoriev Variation 9 moves
- B74 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation, Spielmann Variation 12 moves
- B33 Bird Variation 8 moves
- B33 Exchange Variation 6 moves
- B33 Retreat Variation 6 moves
- B33 Schlechter Variation 6 moves
- B33 Sveshnikov Variation 8 moves
- B68 Neo-Modern Variation 9 moves
- B88 Sicilian Defense: Sozin Attack, Fischer Variation 9 moves
- B89 Sicilian Defense: Sozin Attack, Main Line 7 moves
- B38 Maróczy Bind 6 moves
- B37 Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon, Simagin Variation 7 moves
- B35 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Modern Bc4 Variation 7 moves
- B33 Sveshnikov Variation 10 moves
- B33 Chelyabinsk Variation 9 moves
- B33 Novosibirsk Variation 10 moves
- B69 Nyezhmetdinov Attack 11 moves
- B89 Sicilian Defense: Velimirovic Attack 8 moves
- B39 Breyer Variation 7 moves
- B33 Peresypkin's Sacrifice 11 moves
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Sicilian Defense: Open (B32)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/sicilian-defense-open-3