Tree path 7 levels King's Pawn Game › Sicilian Defense › Smith-Morra Gambit › Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit › Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted › Sozin Formation › Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted, Chicago Defense
- Chess Codex
- King's Pawn Game B00
- Sicilian Defense B20
- Smith-Morra Gambit B21
- Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit B21
- Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted B21
- Sozin Formation B21
- Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted, Chicago Defense B21 you are here
Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted, Chicago Defense
Overview
Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted, Chicago Defense belongs to the gambit family of chess openings (ECO B21, Semi-Open Games). It trades material for attacking chances — a classic trade-off that has fascinated players from the Romantic era to modern correspondence chess.
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.
It begins with 18 plies and takes 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 Nc6 5. Bc4 e6 6. Nf3 d6 7. O-O a6 8. Qe2 b5 9. Bb3 Ra7 to reach the canonical position.
The line refines Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted, Sozin Formation, which traces back to the root opening King's Pawn Game.
Explore the position on the interactive board, study its real-world results from Lichess, and challenge the engine when you are ready.
- ECO code
- B21
- Group
- Semi-Open Games (B)
- Plies
- 18
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
15,554 games · White 40.2% / Draw 4.9% / Black 54.9%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Rd1 | 9,773 | |
| Be3 | 3,913 | |
| Bf4 | 930 | |
| Bg5 | 418 | |
| a4 | 193 | |
| e5 | 88 | |
| a3 | 69 | |
| Ng5 | 43 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 03:18:46
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