Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation (7… Nc6 8. Nb3)
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. Be2 Nc6 8. Nb3
The Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B72, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. Be2 Nc6 8. Nb3. 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 4 times by this move order. White won 25%, 0% were drawn and Black won 75%. The most popular continuation is 8… O-O (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.07 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 8… Be6 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O a6 11. Nd4)
- ECO
- B72
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pp2ppbp/2np1np1/8/4P3/1NN1B3/PPP1BPPP/R2QK2R b KQkq - 5 8- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. Be2 Nc6 8. Nb3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 4 | |
| All | 4 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… O-O | 2 (50%) | |
| 8… a5 | 1 (25%) | |
| 8… Be6 | 1 (25%) |
Master games
21 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 19%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- GM Karen H. Grigoryan (2584) – GM Levon Babujian (2500) 1-0 · 74th ch-ARM 2014 · 2014-01-21
- IM Nitish Belurkar (2460) – IM Avinash Ramesh (2378) 1-0 · Berjaya Global Masters · 2026-09-09
- FM Nicolas Le Hetet (2372) – IM Wojtek Sochacki (2324) 1-0 · TCh-FRA Top 16 Basse 2022 · 2022-06-16
- Jan Miesbauer (2321) – Yevgeniy Roshka (2271) 1-0 · World Youth U16 Olympiad · 2016-07-24
- Acyr Rogerio Calcado (2146) – IM Renato R. Quintiliano (2430) 0-1 · 2nd Floripa Open 2016 · 2016-01-22
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Advisor60 (2242) – Korolenko (2302) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- raulov51 (2221) – Fanta-4 (2248) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- randfigur (2221) – Mettewsecondediscion (2075) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation (7. Be2 Nc6) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. Be2 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.