Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation (5… g6 6. Be2)
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be2
The Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B70, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be2. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,150 times by this move order. White won 48%, 5% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 6… Bg7 (95% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.16 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6… Nc6 7. Be3 Bg7 8. O-O O-O 9. Qd2)
- ECO
- B70
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp2pp1p/3p1np1/8/3NP3/2N5/PPP1BPPP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 1 6- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 31 | |
| 1500-1999 | 520 | |
| 2000+ | 599 | |
| All | 1,150 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Bg7 | 1,093 (95%) | |
| 6… Nc6 | 34 (3%) | |
| 6… a6 | 15 (1%) | |
| 6… h5 | 5 (0%) | |
| 6… Nbd7 | 2 (0%) | |
| 6… Bd7 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
1,927 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 20%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2851) – GM Tigran L. Petrosian (2611) 1-0 · chess.com QF Blitz 1m+1spm 2016 · 2016-06-23
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2851) – GM Tigran L. Petrosian (2611) 1-0 · chess.com QF Blitz 1m+1spm 2016 · 2016-06-23
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2795) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2654) 1-0 · World Blitz 2025 · 2025-12-30
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2737) – GM Chithambaram VR. Aravindh (2711) 1-0 · Titled Tue 28th Oct 2025 · 2025-10-28
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) – GM Sina Movahed (2596) 1-0 · 1st 3-0 Thu 20th Nov 2025 · 2025-11-20
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM Angelicanmade (2574) – contrapunctus_XI (2676) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- FM Igrok_V_Proshlom (2565) – contrapunctus_XI (2647) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- FM Igrok_V_Proshlom (2567) – contrapunctus_XI (2645) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation (5. Nc3 g6) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6
Continuations
- Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation (7… Nc6 8. Be3) B73 · 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be2 Bg7 7. O-O Nc6 8. Be3
- Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation, Battery Variation B73 · 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be2 Bg7 7. O-O O-O 8. Be3 Nc6 9. Qd2
- Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation, Normal Line B74 · 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be2 Bg7 7. O-O O-O 8. Be3 Nc6 9. Nb3
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.