Sicilian Defense: Coles Sicilian Gambit
1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qd1 Nf6 5. Bc4
The Sicilian Defense: Coles Sicilian Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO B21, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qd1 Nf6 5. Bc4. 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 36 times by this move order. White won 39%, 3% were drawn and Black won 58%. The most popular continuation is 5… Nxe4 (53% of games).
Engine evaluation: −1.21 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 5… Nxe4 6. Bxf7+ Kxf7 7. Qd5+ e6 8. Qxe4)
- ECO
- B21
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pp1ppppp/2n2n2/8/2B1P3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQK1NR b KQkq - 4 5- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qd1 Nf6 5. Bc4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 12 | |
| 1500-1999 | 24 | |
| All | 36 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Nxe4 | 19 (53%) | |
| 5… e6 | 11 (31%) | |
| 5… e5 | 2 (6%) | |
| 5… g6 | 2 (6%) | |
| 5… a6 | 1 (3%) | |
| 5… d6 | 1 (3%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GriffinDaBeast (1942) – sinhachess86 (2040) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Oleg28ru (1909) – VOJplayer (2045) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- miroslaff1975 (1990) – ThomasHack (1854) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit (1… c5 2. d4) 1. e4 c5 2. d4
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.