Sicilian Defense: Closed (5… d6 6. Be3)
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. Be3
The Sicilian Defense: Closed is a chess opening classified as ECO B26, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. Be3. 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 271 times by this move order. White won 49%, 9% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 6… Nf6 (35% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6… Rb8 7. Nge2 b5 8. a3 Nf6 9. h3)
- ECO
- B26
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/pp2ppbp/2np2p1/2p5/4P3/2NPB1P1/PPP2PBP/R2QK1NR b KQkq - 1 6- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. Be3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 6 | |
| 1500-1999 | 54 | |
| 2000+ | 211 | |
| All | 271 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Nf6 | 95 (35%) | |
| 6… e6 | 59 (22%) | |
| 6… e5 | 51 (19%) | |
| 6… Rb8 | 32 (12%) | |
| 6… Nd4 | 14 (5%) | |
| 6… h5 | 4 (1%) | |
| 6… Bd7 | 4 (1%) | |
| 6… Nh6 | 3 (1%) |
Master games
1,954 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 35%, draw 22%, Black 43%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2859) – GM Gukesh D (2725) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess 2022 · 2022-12-06
- GM Vladislav Artemiev (2709) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2847) 1/2-1/2 · DM Carlsen-Artemiev 2021 · 2021-04-21
- GM Vladislav Artemiev (2708) – GM Anish Giri (2764) 0-1 · chess.com Speed 2020 · 2020-11-16
- GM Vladislav Artemiev (2704) – GM Daniil Dubov (2696) 1-0 · TCh-RUS Premier 2018 · 2018-05-09
- GM Luke J McShane (2655) – GM Nikita Vitiugov (2731) 0-1 · 12th LCC ENG v ROW 2021 · 2021-12-05
Search all games of the Sicilian Defense: Closed and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Zenit-Champion (2694) – IM SpeedMonkey (2608) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- FM fbf96 (2627) – Vnebo (2664) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Souren (2609) – IM SpeedMonkey (2589) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Closed (5. d3 d6) 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6
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.