Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation, Bernard Defense

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 Bg7 7. O-O O-O 8. Be3 Nc6 9. Nb3 Be6 10. f4 Na5 11. f5 Bc4 12. Bd3 Bxd3 13. cxd3 d5

The Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation, Bernard Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO B74, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 Bg7 7. O-O O-O 8. Be3 Nc6 9. Nb3 Be6 10. f4 Na5 11. f5 Bc4 12. Bd3 Bxd3 13. cxd3 d5. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. White is to move.

This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.

Engine evaluation: +0.53 (Stockfish, depth 27; best line 14. Nxa5 Qxa5 15. fxg6 fxg6 16. e5 Nd7)

ECO

B74

Moves

26 plies

FEN

r2q1rk1/pp2ppbp/5np1/n2p1P2/4P3/1NNPB3/PP4PP/R2Q1RK1 w - - 0 14

PGN

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 Bg7 7. O-O O-O 8. Be3 Nc6 9. Nb3 Be6 10. f4 Na5 11. f5 Bc4 12. Bd3 Bxd3 13. cxd3 d5

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

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.