Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack (8. Qd2 Nc6)

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6

The Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO B76, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,659 times by this move order. White won 51%, 5% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 9. O-O-O (60% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.55 (Stockfish, depth 53; best line 9. O-O-O d5 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nxc6 bxc6)

ECO: B76
Moves: 16 plies
FEN: r1bq1rk1/pp2ppbp/2np1np1/8/3NP3/2N1BP2/PPPQ2PP/R3KB1R w KQ - 3 9
PGN: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	41	61%37%
1500-1999	468	55%42%
2000+	1,150	49%45%
All	1,659	51%44%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
9. O-O-O	993 (60%)	49%46%
9. Bc4 Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Main Line (8… Nc6 9. Bc4)	416 (25%)	54%40%
9. g4 Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Panov Variation	163 (10%)	54%38%
9. Nxc6	28 (2%)	50%50%
9. Nb3	24 (1%)	58%42%
9. h4	16 (1%)	31%63%
9. Be2	8 (0%)	38%12%50%
9. Bh6	6 (0%)	17%16%67%

Master games

3,660 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 18%, Black 32%). The strongest:

LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) – Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-08-01
Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) – LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-08-01
GM Fabiano Caruana (2803) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2799) 1/2-1/2 · KM FIDE GP 2015 · 2015-05-25
GM Viswanathan Anand (2776) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2787) 1/2-1/2 · 11th Tal Mem Blitz 2018 · 2018-03-05
GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2751) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2792) 1/2-1/2 · Saint Louis Blitz 2017 · 2017-08-18

Search all games of the Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

GM Dragso (2753) – Yakamuzosan (2688) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Juplt3rLlk3 (2735) – notkevich (2702) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Tempstream (2703) – AstorMonserrat (2704) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack (7. f3 O-O) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O

Continuations

Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Main Line (8… Nc6 9. Bc4) B77 · 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4
Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Panov Variation B76 · 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. g4

More Sicilian Defense lines (all)

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.