Chess openings: Sicilian (B56)

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Sicilian (B56)
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3

Number of games in database: 4039
Years covered: 1865 to 2023
Overall record:
   White wins 34.0%
   Black wins 34.8%
   Draws 31.2%

Popularity graph, by decade

Explore this opening | Search for sacrifices in this opening.

PRACTITIONERS

With the White Pieces

With the Black Pieces

Sergei Movsesian		27 games
Viktor Kupreichik		25 games
Jonny Hector		17 games

Viktor Kupreichik		44 games
Miroslav Markovic		36 games
Istvan Bilek		20 games

NOTABLE GAMES [what is this?]

White Wins

Black Wins

Fischer vs Gligoric, 1959

Fischer vs NN, 1959

Morozevich vs E Alekseev, 2004

J Tarjan vs Ljubojevic, 1969

N Yaremko vs D Recuero Guerra, 2006

de Firmian vs E Tate, 2001

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page 1 of 162; games 1-25 of 4,039

Game Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening
1. Cordel / Gohle vs Knorre / Neumann 1-0 37 1865 Berlin B56 Sicilian

2. A Fritz vs A Hensel 1-0 17 1877 4-board blindfold exhibition B56 Sicilian

3. A Schottlaender vs W Paulsen ½-½ 49 1880 Wiesbaden Congress B56 Sicilian

4. G Wainwright vs J Thursby ½-½ 26 1881 9th Oxford - Cambridge Varsity m B56 Sicilian

5. Blackburne vs Paulsen 0-1 57 1882 Vienna B56 Sicilian

6. M Lange vs Paulsen 0-1 46 1883 3rd DSB Congress, Nuremberg B56 Sicilian

7. L Bellotti vs C Salvioli 0-1 28 1886 5th Italian Championship, Rome B56 Sicilian

8. Mackenzie vs Paulsen 1-0 39 1887 5th DSB Congress, Frankfurt B56 Sicilian

9. J Noa vs Paulsen 0-1 29 1887 5th DSB Congress, Frankfurt B56 Sicilian

10. Taubenhaus vs Bird ½-½ 59 1889 6th American Chess Congress, New York B56 Sicilian

11. M M Sterling vs Pillsbury 0-1 38 1900 Paris B56 Sicilian

12. J Mason vs Burn 0-1 40 1900 Paris B56 Sicilian

13. Salwe vs Rubinstein 1-0 30 1903 Match B56 Sicilian

14. O Krause vs J Moller ½-½ 56 1907 Copenhagen B56 Sicilian

15. O Chajes vs L Uedemann 0-1 42 1908 Match B56 Sicilian

16. Schlechter vs F Duz-Khotimirsky 1-0 38 1909 St. Petersburg B56 Sicilian

17. M Smith vs A Kreymborg 1-0 49 1911 New York Masters B56 Sicilian

18. Vidmar vs O Bernstein 1-0 42 1911 San Sebastian B56 Sicilian

19. T F Lawrence vs A W Fox 0-1 36 1911 13th Anglo-American Cable Match B56 Sicilian

20. R Lean vs W C Palmer 0-1 34 1911 British Championship B56 Sicilian

21. Nimzowitsch vs F Duz-Khotimirsky 1-0 32 1911 Karlsbad B56 Sicilian

22. H Langborg vs V Sjoberg 1-0 32 1912 Stockholm B56 Sicilian

23. H Strick van Linschoten vs G Fontein 0-1 31 1913 NSB B56 Sicilian

24. Bogoljubov vs A Selezniev 1-0 30 1917 Triberg B56 Sicilian

25. G J van Gelder vs M Marchand 1-0 64 1918 VAS tournament B56 Sicilian

page 1 of 162; games 1-25 of 4,039

REFINE SEARCH: White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)

Mar-28-05		WannaBe: From this position, can someone shed some light on the merits of ... e6 instead of ... e5? According to some games that I looked at, 1-0 games are mostly ... e5. And 0-1 games are mostly ... e6. Also, if ... e5 what is the advantage or pitfalls if white's Knight falls back to f3 again? Thanks

Mar-28-05		AgentRgent: <WannaBe> I'd say it's likely due to the development white is able to generate from lines like: 5...e5 6. Bb5+ Nbd7 7. Nf5 a6 (8. Nxd6+ is threatened) 8. Bxd7+ Qxd7 9. Bg5. Notice that 5...e5 allows the Knight to land on f5 while e6 prevents it. 5...e5 also fixes the backward d pawn as a permanent target for white to attack.

Jun-05-05		Sneaky: WannaBe -- There might be a problem with ...e5 in this position. Often ...e5 is a good move in the Sicilian, sure you get a backwards pawn, but you have all the tools necessary to resolve the problem. In this specific position however, 5...e5 6.Bb5+! seems to be very good for White, see 24 example games here http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... with a win percentage of over 70% for white. A typical variation runs 5...e5 6. Bb5+ Nbd7 7. Nf5 a6 8. Bxd7+ Qxd7 9. Bg5 and according to this database, Black has never been in this position and gotten out alive! Here's something else I discovered while poking around in the Opening Explorer. From the diagrammed position, 5...Bd7 has an enormous win percentage for Black. Surely this isn't because Black is better, but perhaps it's due to the shock value of the move, enticing White into making some sort of move-order mistake. Here are 92 games from the database with this move: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... The stats might favor this move simply because the very strong player Viktor Kupreichik seems to favor it.

Oct-22-05		WannaBe: <AgentRgent> & <Sneaky> Thank you both for the reply, I (through playing e5 & e6) have now learned the pitfall(s) that the line (e5) have. I now only play e6. And followed by Qc7 then Be7 and 0-0. =)

Oct-22-05		aw1988: Of course, if you want to play e5, try B33 or B32...

Oct-28-05		chesscrazy: I like playing e6 better than e5. It's not really because that e5 may lead to a more of a disadvantage. I am an extremely strange chess player and I've played lots of different openings. Sometimes I don't play e6 or e5, I play a6 or g6. And if you were wondering, I have opened a game with h3 and I have opened another with a3!!

Oct-29-05		WannaBe: <chesscrazy> a6 is part of the Najdorf line that I usually play. Most likely after white's Nc3 I play a6. Of course, 1. e4 c5 2. a6 is the O'Kelly variation.

Dec-30-05		who: Here is a game I just played on yahoo against someone rated just over a 100 points higher than I am. ;Title: Yahoo! Chess Game ;White: NN ;Black: me ;Date: Thu Dec 29 08:02:38 GMT 2005 1. e4 c5?! I don't play the sicilian against people rated higher than me, but I wasn't paying attention. 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Be3 Bd7 7. Bd3 A novelty, and one that seems to block his position and take his white bishop out of the game. 7... Ne5 Not really knowing what to do I decided to try and trade off bishops - expecting 8.Bb5 Bxb5 9.Nxb5 a6 with a position that looks like a normal sicilian position, albeit with the white-squared bishops off. 8. h3?! Preventing ...Ng4 8...Nxd3+ hoping that if ever I made it to the endgame the bishop would be more useful, though maintaining the tension seems preferable. 9. cxd3 e5 10. Nf3 Be7 11. o-o a6 to avoid the nuisance of Nb5 at some point, and to prepare b5. 12. a3?! I'm not sure what he wants with this. 12...b5 13. Rc1 Rc8 the opening is done and black's position seems better. 14. Qd2?! trying to connect his rooks in case of an eventual trade on c1, but it seems like a waste of time. 14... o-o 15. Rc2 Rc6?! white sorely misses his white-squared bishop, but 15...Rc7 would probably be better. 16. Rc1 Qa5!? trying to create an eventual pin of the knight, though risking trapping the queen. 17. d4! finally converting/creating a space advantage. 17...exd4 18. Nxd4 Rc7 Perhaps after 19.b4 Qxa3 there is a way to trap the queen, but I don't see it. 19. Bg5 Rc8 20. Kh1? Hoping to play 21.f3 without allowing 21...Qb5+, but it allows a pretty clearing combination that leaves white clearly worse. 20... Nxe4! 21. Nxe4 Qxd2 22. Bxd2 Rxc2 23. Rxc2 23.Nxc2 allows 23...Bf5 and the continuation as in the game. 23... Rxc2 24. Nxc2 Bf5 25. f3? after 25.Nxd6 black has the bishop pair against a bishop and knight with pawns on both sides of the board, but no material advantage and no clear way to win. After 25.f3 white is down a passed pawn. 25... d5 26. g4 Bg6 27. resigns 0-1 Perhaps a bit premature, but with the an extra pawn plus the bishop pair I have to believe that I could convert this to a win.

Jun-26-07		Bob726: The best move here according to the database is the Suprising 5.Bd7? Black wins almost 50% of the time and white only wins 25% of the time. Is it really that good or is it just a good suprise element?

Feb-03-11		Raspje: 5...e5 in this position is very interesting, it was analysed by GM Igor Glek in Secrets of Opening Surprises 12. The idea is to allow 6.Bb5+ because after 6...Bd7 7.Bxd7 Qxd7 8.Nde2 (8.Nf5 Nxe4 is good for black, see Glek) h6! (prevents Bg5) black kan pressurize pawn e4 with ...Qc6/Nbd7 and maybe ...Nc5.

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