Sicilian Defense: Marshall Counterattack
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 d5
The Sicilian Defense: Marshall Counterattack is a chess opening classified as ECO B40, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 d5. 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 4,136 times by this move order. White won 48%, 5% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 4. exd5 (62% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.67 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4. Bb5+ Nc6 5. exd5 exd5 6. O-O Nf6)
- ECO
- B40
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp3ppp/4p3/2pp4/3PP3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,002 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,580 | |
| 2000+ | 554 | |
| All | 4,136 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. exd5 | 2,546 (62%) | |
| 4. dxc5 | 595 (14%) | |
| 4. e5 | 484 (12%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 193 (5%) | |
| 4. Bb5+ | 139 (3%) | |
| 4. c3 | 72 (2%) | |
| 4. Bd3 | 24 (1%) | |
| 4. Nbd2 | 21 (1%) |
Master games
129 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 53%, draw 14%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Anish Giri (2783) – IM Saveliy Golubov (2482) 1-0 · World Rapid 2018 · 2018-12-26
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2777) – IM Saveliy Golubov (2469) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz 2019 · 2019-12-29
- GM Gata Kamsky (2677) – GM Daniil Yuffa (2566) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz 2019 · 2019-12-29
- GM Peter Svidler (2737) – IM Saveliy Golubov (2482) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz 2018 · 2018-12-29
- GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2719) – IM Saveliy Golubov (2482) 0-1 · World Blitz 2018 · 2018-12-29
Search all games of the Sicilian Defense: Marshall Counterattack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Barry_Lindon (2574) – alizem2013 (2535) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- KhR_2020 (2233) – FM UnknownSuperGM (2586) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- MrAlexGuit (2240) – FM UnknownSuperGM (2572) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 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.