Tree path 7 levels King's Pawn Game › Sicilian Defense › Sicilian Defense › French Variation › Open › Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation › Szén Variation
- Caissa Codex
- King's Pawn Game B00
- Sicilian Defense B20
- Sicilian Defense B27
- French Variation B40
- Open B40
- Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation B44
- Szén Variation B44 you are here
Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation, Szén Variation
Overview
Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation, Szén Variation is a variation within the Semi-Open Games family, indexed as ECO B44.
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 9 plies and takes 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nb5 to reach the canonical position.
It is a variation of Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation, which itself descends from the root opening King's Pawn Game.
It branches into 2 notable variations — Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation, Gary Gambit, Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation, Modern Line.
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
- B44
- Group
- Semi-Open Games (B)
- Plies
- 9
- Direct variations
- 2
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
453,074 games · White 52.3% / Draw 5.0% / Black 42.7%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| d6 | 212,334 | |
| a6 | 100,681 | |
| Nf6 | 45,568 | |
| d5 | 44,041 | |
| Qa5+ | 29,576 | |
| Bc5 | 9,035 | |
| Bb4+ | 5,637 | |
| Qb6 | 2,682 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 02:00:39
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