Sicilian Defense: Closed, Botvinnik Defense, with f4
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. f4 e5
The Sicilian Defense: Closed, Botvinnik Defense, with f4 is a chess opening classified as ECO B25, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. f4 e5. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 19 times by this move order. White won 47%, 6% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 7. Nf3 (68% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.14 (Stockfish, depth 37; best line 7. Nf3 Nge7 8. O-O exf4 9. Bxf4 O-O)
- ECO
- B25
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/pp3pbp/2np2p1/2p1p3/4PP2/2NP2P1/PPP3BP/R1BQK1NR w KQkq - 0 7- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. f4 e5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 5 | |
| 2000+ | 14 | |
| All | 19 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Nf3 | 13 (68%) | |
| 7. Nh3 | 3 (16%) | |
| 7. Nge2 | 1 (5%) | |
| 7. h3 | 1 (5%) | |
| 7. Nd5 | 1 (5%) |
Master games
79 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 14%, Black 44%). The strongest:
- GM Brandon Jacobson (2604) – GM Jakhongir Vakhidov (2511) 1-0 · UzChess Cup Challengers · 2026-06-12
- GM Xiangyu Xu (2621) – IM Tagir Salemgareev (2428) 0-1 · Titled Tue 1st Oct Early · 2024-10-01
- FM Berthold Bartsch (2242) – GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (2661) 0-1 · 16th OIBM 2012 · 2012-10-29
- Juan Cruz Arias (2202) – GM Alexandr Fier (2586) 1-0 · 3rd Floripa Open 2017 · 2017-01-24
- FM Olaf Berg (2323) – IM Nikolaj Mikkelsen (2466) 0-1 · Runavik Open 2016 · 2016-11-27
Search all games of the Sicilian Defense: Closed, Botvinnik Defense, with f4 and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- CM DiverseOpening (2426) – FM AlexKous2000 (2511) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- CM DiverseOpening (2446) – bert6209 (2422) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- mightysonce (2475) – ph0rial (2380) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Closed (5… d6 6. f4) 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. f4
Continuations
- Sicilian Defense: Closed, Botvinnik Defense, Edge Variation B25 · 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. f4 e5 7. Nh3 Nge7
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.