Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Old Line

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 Rc8

Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Old Line 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 10. O-O-O Rc8 87654321abcdefgh

The Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack, Old Line is a chess opening classified as ECO B78, 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 10. O-O-O Rc8. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 119 times by this move order. White won 55%, 6% were drawn and Black won 39%. The most popular continuation is 11. Bb3 (95% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.42 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 11. Bb3 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 b5 13. Nd5 Nxd5)

ECO
B78
Moves
20 plies
FEN
2rq1rk1/pp1bppbp/2np1np1/8/2BNP3/2N1BP2/PPPQ2PP/2KR3R w - - 7 11
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 10. O-O-O Rc8

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

Results by rating

Average ratingGamesWhite / draw / Black
0-14991587%13%
1500-19993253%44%
2000+7250%42%
All11955%39%

Most played moves

MoveGamesWhite / draw / Black
11. Bb3113 (95%)56%38%
11. Kb13 (3%)33%67%
11. Be22 (2%)100%
11. h41 (1%)100%

Master games

410 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 56%, draw 17%, Black 27%). The strongest:

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

Highest-rated Lichess games

Comes from

Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack (9… Bd7 10. O-O-O) 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

Continuations

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.