Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Main Line (9. Bc4 Bd7)

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 Bd7

The Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Main Line is a chess opening classified as ECO B77, 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 9. Bc4 Bd7. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 296 times by this move order. White won 54%, 6% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 10. O-O-O (71% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.35 (Stockfish, depth 47; best line 10. O-O-O Rb8 11. Bb3 Na5 12. Kb1 b5)

ECO: B77
Moves: 18 plies
FEN: r2q1rk1/pp1bppbp/2np1np1/8/2BNP3/2N1BP2/PPPQ2PP/R3K2R w KQ - 5 10
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 9. Bc4 Bd7

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	16	88%13%
1500-1999	72	60%39%
2000+	208	50%43%
All	296	54%40%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
10. O-O-O Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack (9… Bd7 10. O-O-O)	211 (71%)	56%39%
10. Bb3 Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Main Line (9… Bd7 10. Bb3)	36 (12%)	53%39%
10. h4	35 (12%)	40%54%
10. g4	8 (3%)	50%12%38%
10. O-O	4 (1%)	75%25%
10. Nxc6	1 (0%)	100%
10. a3	1 (0%)	100%

Master games

269 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 60%, draw 13%, Black 27%). The strongest:

GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2789) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2781) 1/2-1/2 · 9th London Classic 2017 · 2017-12-03
GM Farrukh Amonatov (2624) – GM Rodrigo Vasquez Schroeder (2476) 1-0 · 12th Mayors Cup Open 2019 · 2019-06-16
GM Isan Reynaldo Ortiz Suarez (2612) – IM Hipolito Asis Gargatagli (2487) 1-0 · 36th Barbera Open · 2013-07-06
GM Luis Lazaro Aguero Jimenez (2503) – GM Jaime Santos Latasa (2575) 1/2-1/2 · Iberoamericano Chess24 · 2020-06-01
GM Muhammed Batuhan Dastan (2572) – IM Tuan Minh Le (2501) 0-1 · PRO League Group Stage · 2020-01-23

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

Highest-rated Lichess games

NM logozar (2604) – PowerDrive (2573) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
CM Mysterious-Master (2571) – FM FlySooHigh (2606) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
garipaucharecalcada (2551) – PowerDrive (2562) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Main Line (8… Nc6 9. Bc4) 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

Continuations

Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack (9… Bd7 10. O-O-O) B78 · 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 Bd7 10. O-O-O
Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Main Line (9… Bd7 10. Bb3) 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 Bd7 10. Bb3
Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack (11… Rfc8 12. Bb3) B79 · 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 Bd7 10. h4 Qa5 11. O-O-O Rfc8 12. Bb3

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.