Sicilian Defense: Drazic Variation
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 a6
The Sicilian Defense: Drazic Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B40, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 a6. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,504 times by this move order. White won 50%, 3% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 4. d5 (33% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.65 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 4. d5 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. a4 exd5)
- ECO
- B40
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/1p1p1ppp/p3p3/2p5/3PP3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 a6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 417 | |
| 1500-1999 | 943 | |
| 2000+ | 144 | |
| All | 1,504 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. d5 | 492 (33%) | |
| 4. dxc5 | 361 (24%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 214 (14%) | |
| 4. Be3 | 102 (7%) | |
| 4. c3 | 97 (6%) | |
| 4. c4 | 67 (4%) | |
| 4. Bc4 | 48 (3%) | |
| 4. Bd3 | 29 (2%) |
Master games
25 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 32%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- GM Pengxiang Zhang (2591) – IM Chen Wang (2490) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-CHN 2012 · 2012-09-23
- IM Serghei Vedmediuc (2464) – GM Marius Manolache (2517) 0-1 · Iuliu Szabo Memorial 2021 · 2021-08-13
- IM Emmanuel Senador (2353) – IM Oliver Dimakiling (2415) 1/2-1/2 · ch-PHI Grand Final 2012 · 2012-07-23
- GM Dalibor Stojanovic (2449) – GM Sinisa Drazic (2270) 1/2-1/2 · Fantastico GM mix 2 2025 · 2025-02-11
- FM Sumiya Bilguun (2265) – IM Oliver Dimakiling (2453) 1-0 · 5th Kolkata Open · 2012-12-04
Search all games of the Sicilian Defense: Drazic Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Ariel_mlr (2568) – OstavaisaSoboi (2550) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- BlackScholesModel (2591) – SystemsEngineer (2442) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- pulptimes (2559) – IM MitchyF (2402) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: French Variation 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6
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.