Tree path 6 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, Sozin Formation
Overview
Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted, Sozin Formation 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.
Play reaches this position via 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, after 16 plies of opening development.
The line refines Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted, which traces back to the root opening King's Pawn Game.
It continues primarily into one named line, Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted, Chicago Defense.
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
- 16
- Direct variations
- 1
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
30,816 games · White 52.4% / Draw 4.1% / Black 43.5%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Bb3 | 29,434 | |
| Bd3 | 646 | |
| Nxb5 | 270 | |
| Bd5 | 231 | |
| Rd1 | 176 | |
| Bxb5 | 38 | |
| b3 | 10 | |
| Re1 | 4 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 03:09:32
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