Sicilian Defense: Boleslavsky Variation, Louma Variation
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nxc6
The Sicilian Defense: Boleslavsky Variation, Louma Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B58, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nxc6. 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 7 times by this move order. White won 29%, 0% were drawn and Black won 71%. The most popular continuation is 7… bxc6 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.17 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 7… bxc6 8. O-O Be7 9. f4 O-O 10. Kh1)
- ECO
- B58
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pp3ppp/2Np1n2/4p3/4P3/2N5/PPP1BPPP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 0 7- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nxc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 4 | |
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 7 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… bxc6 | 7 (100%) |
Master games
16 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 25%, draw 12%, Black 63%). The strongest:
- GM David Paravyan (2631) – GM Pavel Ponkratov (2650) 1-0 · Smyslov Region Group Cup · 2021-08-16
- WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (2327) – GM Anton Demchenko (2610) 0-1 · Chelyabinskiy Variant GpA · 2021-03-26
- CM Sauat Nurgaliyev (2150) – GM Abhimanyu Puranik (2616) 0-1 · 9th Sunway Sitges 2022 · 2022-12-12
- Ryan Winter (2010) – GM Xiangyu Xu (2578) 0-1 · Asia-Oceania Uni 2022 · 2022-12-23
- CM Viacheslav Tikhonov (2177) – FM German Bazeev (2369) 0-1 · Titled Tue 17th Oct Late · 2023-10-17
Highest-rated Lichess games
- byrize11 (2632) – CM misha111228 (2643) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Quindos_FC (2017) – MaggieFan (2478) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 480 + 0s
- Pattexperte (2128) – Skalman1 (2146) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
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.