Tree path 4 levels King's Pawn Game › Sicilian Defense › Wing Gambit › Marshall Variation
B20

Sicilian Defense: Wing Gambit, Marshall Variation

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

Overview

Sicilian Defense: Wing Gambit, Marshall Variation belongs to the gambit family of chess openings (ECO B20, 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 is reached after 5 plies of play, with the move sequence 1. e4 c5 2. b4 cxb4 3. a3.

The line refines Sicilian Defense: Wing Gambit, which traces back to the root opening King's Pawn Game.

The line splits into 4 documented sub-systems: Sicilian Defense: Wing Gambit, Carlsbad Variation, Sicilian Defense: Wing Gambit, Marienbad Variation, Sicilian Defense: Wing Gambit, Nanu Gambit, and others.

Explore the position on the interactive board, study its real-world results from Lichess, and challenge the engine when you are ready.

ECO code
B20
Group
Semi-Open Games (B)
Plies
5
Parent
Sicilian Defense: Wing Gambit
Direct variations
4

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

1,476,088 games · White 48.7% / Draw 4.2% / Black 47.1%

MovesGamesW / D / B
bxa3784,052
e6212,785
d5172,658
e5114,562
Nc688,053
b336,028
d625,612
Nf616,183

Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:07:23

Write a description

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

Variations (4)