Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5

The Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B33, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. White is to move. 5 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 6,844 times by this move order. White won 48%, 6% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 6. Ndb5 (60% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.34 (Stockfish, depth 57; best line 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5)

ECO: B33
Moves: 10 plies
FEN: r1bqkb1r/pp1p1ppp/2n2n2/4p3/3NP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 0 6
PGN: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	387	51%46%
1500-1999	3,052	46%49%
2000+	3,405	50%44%
All	6,844	48%46%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
6. Ndb5	4,116 (60%)	51%43%
6. Nxc6 Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Exchange Variation	993 (15%)	47%49%
6. Nb3 Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Schlechter Variation	730 (11%)	45%50%
6. Nf3 Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Retreat Variation	538 (8%)	40%54%
6. Nf5	391 (6%)	42%54%
6. Nde2	53 (1%)	47%49%
6. Be3	10 (0%)	90%
6. Bd3	2 (0%)	50%50%

Master games

6,100 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 18%, Black 37%). 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
Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) 0-1 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-29
Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) – Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-29
GM Fabiano Caruana (2832) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) 0-1 · WCh Rapid TB 2018 · 2018-11-28

Search all games of the Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

ANKARA_MESSI2022 (2760) – Superstitions_Guy (2813) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
GM Super_FanZhendong (2900) – Cuentatorneos (2627) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Kruciatos (2743) – canc3111 (2774) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Sicilian Defense: Open (4. Nxd4 Nf6) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6

Continuations

Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Exchange Variation B33 · 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Nxc6
Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Retreat Variation B33 · 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Nf3
Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Schlechter Variation B33 · 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Nb3
Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Bird Variation B33 · 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 Be6
Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation, Sveshnikov Variation (8. Na3 b5) B33 · 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5

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.