Sicilian Defense: Closed (3… a6 4. g3)
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nge2 a6 4. g3
The Sicilian Defense: Closed is a chess opening classified as ECO B23, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nge2 a6 4. g3. 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 209 times by this move order. White won 53%, 3% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 4… b5 (51% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.20 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4… Nc6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Qc7 7. Bg2)
- ECO
- B23
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/1p1p1ppp/p3p3/2p5/4P3/2N3P1/PPPPNP1P/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nge2 a6 4. g3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 65 | |
| 2000+ | 143 | |
| All | 209 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… b5 | 106 (51%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 43 (21%) | |
| 4… Qc7 | 19 (9%) | |
| 4… d5 | 16 (8%) | |
| 4… d6 | 9 (4%) | |
| 4… b6 | 5 (2%) | |
| 4… Ne7 | 4 (2%) | |
| 4… Nf6 | 3 (1%) |
Master games
452 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 22%, Black 41%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2767) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2822) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 5m+1spm 2017 · 2018-07-24
- GM Javokhir Sindarov (2721) – GM Nikolas Theodorou (2656) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Cup 2025 · 2025-11-07
- GM Dmitry Andreikin (2729) – GM Gata Kamsky (2623) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 27th Feb Early · 2024-02-27
- GM Zoran Jovanovic (2534) – GM Nikita Vitiugov (2726) 0-1 · European Blitz 2016 · 2016-12-18
- GM Matthieu Cornette (2532) – GM Richard Rapport (2701) 1/2-1/2 · Politiken Cup 2014 · 2014-07-23
Search all games of the Sicilian Defense: Closed and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM Aphelios00 (2718) – bombokobombo123456 (2607) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Souren (2606) – delapoutre (2524) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- DLR_CH_1 (2549) – Eates02 (2538) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Closed (2. Nc3 e6) 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6
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.