Sicilian Defense: Boleslavsky Variation (6… e5 7. Nb3)
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3
The Sicilian Defense: Boleslavsky Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B59, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 60 times by this move order. White won 35%, 10% were drawn and Black won 55%. The most popular continuation is 7… Be7 (63% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.14 (Stockfish, depth 41; best line 7… Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Bf3 h6 10. Be3)
- ECO
- B59
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pp3ppp/2np1n2/4p3/4P3/1NN5/PPP1BPPP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 1 7- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 20 | |
| 2000+ | 39 | |
| All | 60 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… Be7 | 38 (63%) | |
| 7… Be6 | 16 (27%) | |
| 7… a5 | 3 (5%) | |
| 7… a6 | 2 (3%) | |
| 7… h6 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
441 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 20%, draw 23%, Black 57%). The strongest:
- GM Michael Adams (2696) – GM Dmitrij Kollars (2648) 1/2-1/2 · NC World Masters 2022 · 2022-07-23
- GM Boris Grachev (2666) – GM Ivan Popov (2648) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-RUS Blitz 2015 · 2015-05-10
- GM Sergei Movsesian (2633) – GM Evgeny Romanov (2628) 1/2-1/2 · 13th Teplice Open 2018 · 2018-06-21
- GM Yifan Hou (2673) – GM Mariya Muzychuk (2554) 1-0 · WCh Women 2016 · 2016-03-14
- GM Evgeny Alekseev (2622) – GM Kirill Alekseenko (2563) 1/2-1/2 · ch-RUS Rapid 2017 · 2017-09-30
Search all games of the Sicilian Defense: Boleslavsky Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM AlPacino80 (2521) – destroylevel (2505) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- emiliofelixramirez (2409) – C01B01 (2544) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 600 + 0s
- frexit-EU (2457) – hanyabdo2 (2298) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 5s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Open (4. Nxd4 Nf6) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
More Sicilian Defense lines (all)
- Sicilian Defense (1. e4 c5) B20
- Sicilian Defense: Amazon Attack B20
- Sicilian Defense: Big Clamp Formation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Bowdler Attack B20
- Sicilian Defense: Brick Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Czerniak Attack B20
- Sicilian Defense: Czerniak Attack, Queen Fianchetto Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Euwe Attack, Prins Gambit B20
- Sicilian Defense: Gloria Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Grob Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Keres Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: King David's Opening B20
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.