Tree path 9 levels King's Pawn Game › Sicilian Defense › Sicilian Defense › Old Sicilian › Sicilian Defense: Open › Sicilian Defense: Open › Sicilian Defense: Open › Sicilian Defense: Open › Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Modern Variation
B61

Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Modern Variation

Open in Lichess
Share: X Reddit Telegram Facebook
Play from here → Click pieces to play, or use ← / → arrows.

Overview

Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Modern Variation is a variation within the Semi-Open Games family, indexed as ECO B61.

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.

The line arises from 13 plies — specifically the moves 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 Bd7 7. Qd2.

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

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
B61
Group
Semi-Open Games (B)
Plies
13
Parent
Sicilian Defense: Open

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

40,760 games · White 47.1% / Draw 7.4% / Black 45.4%

MovesGamesW / D / B
Rc823,851
a64,093
Nxd43,769
h62,529
e62,160
Qa51,217
Qb61,197
g61,133

Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 02:47:22

Write a description

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