Sicilian Defense: Closed, Portland Attack
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. d3 g6 4. g4
The Sicilian Defense: Closed, Portland Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO B23, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. d3 g6 4. g4. 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 9 times by this move order. White won 33%, 0% were drawn and Black won 67%. The most popular continuation is 4… Bg7 (89% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.41 (Stockfish, depth 25; best line 4… d6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. a4 a6 7. f4)
- ECO
- B23
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pp1ppp1p/2n3p1/2p5/4P1P1/2NP4/PPP2P1P/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. d3 g6 4. g4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 4 | |
| 2000+ | 5 | |
| All | 9 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Bg7 | 8 (89%) | |
| 4… h5 | 1 (11%) |
Master games
2 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 0%, draw 0%, Black 100%). The strongest:
- Jan Fabian (1896) – Vladimir Jedlicka (2068) 0-1 · World Senior Teams +65 · 2020-03-10
Search all games of the Sicilian Defense: Closed, Portland Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- BrkoFreddy (2173) – BroJustMove (2345) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- BrkoFreddy (2171) – Honorato_Kiala (2133) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- BrkoFreddy (2186) – Rbs77 (2098) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Closed, Traditional 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6
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.