Sicilian Defense: Grand Prix Attack, Schofman Variation
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bc4 e6 6. f5
The Sicilian Defense: Grand Prix Attack, Schofman Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B23, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bc4 e6 6. f5. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 124 times by this move order. White won 52%, 5% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 6… Nge7 (55% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.57 (Stockfish, depth 54; best line 6… gxf5 7. d3 Nge7 8. O-O O-O 9. Bf4)
- ECO
- B23
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/pp1p1pbp/2n1p1p1/2p2P2/2B1P3/2N2N2/PPPP2PP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bc4 e6 6. f5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 21 | |
| 2000+ | 102 | |
| All | 124 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Nge7 | 68 (55%) | |
| 6… gxf5 | 35 (28%) | |
| 6… exf5 | 9 (7%) | |
| 6… d5 | 6 (5%) | |
| 6… a6 | 2 (2%) | |
| 6… Nf6 | 1 (1%) | |
| 6… Na5 | 1 (1%) | |
| 6… d6 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
353 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 35%, draw 13%, Black 52%). The strongest:
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2794) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2737) 0-1 · Bullet Chess Winners 2024 · 2024-06-13
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2794) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2737) 0-1 · Bullet Chess Winners 2024 · 2024-06-13
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2745) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2776) 0-1 · chess.com Speed 2019 · 2020-01-05
- GM Vladislav Artemiev (2746) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2759) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 2019 · 2019-10-03
- GM Al Modiahki, M. (2542) – GM Yuriy Kuzubov (2699) 0-1 · World Blitz 2017 · 2017-12-29
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Dmitry_Kornilovich (2551) – iamgroot_2025 (2638) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Dmitry_Kornilovich (2549) – discasting (2564) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Dmitry_Kornilovich (2540) – Dirty345 (2549) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Grand Prix Attack 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4
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.