Sicilian Defense: McDonnell Attack (3… e6 4. d3)
1. e4 c5 2. f4 Nc6 3. Nf3 e6 4. d3
The Sicilian Defense: McDonnell Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO B21, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. f4 Nc6 3. Nf3 e6 4. d3. 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 499 times by this move order. White won 47%, 5% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 4… d5 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 4… d5 5. Be2 Bd6 6. O-O Nge7 7. e5)
- ECO
- B21
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pp1p1ppp/2n1p3/2p5/4PP2/3P1N2/PPP3PP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. f4 Nc6 3. Nf3 e6 4. d3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 55 | |
| 1500-1999 | 372 | |
| 2000+ | 72 | |
| All | 499 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… d5 | 227 (45%) | |
| 4… Nf6 | 73 (15%) | |
| 4… Nge7 | 44 (9%) | |
| 4… g6 | 39 (8%) | |
| 4… d6 | 33 (7%) | |
| 4… a6 | 23 (5%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 22 (4%) | |
| 4… Qc7 | 9 (2%) |
Master games
5 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 0%, draw 20%, Black 80%). The strongest:
- FM Mauricio Vargas Benavides (1957) – WFM Ana Kuchava (2101) 0-1 · Titled Tue 6th Feb Early · 2024-02-06
- Gabriela Uzuneanu (1571) – WCM Lia-Alexandra Maria (1479) 1/2-1/2 · 11th Maria Albulet Mem · 2018-11-05
- Akaki Dvalishvili (1307) – Raffi Ghazaryan (1722) 0-1 · World Cadets U12 2016 · 2016-10-20
- Tommaso Svetina (1044) – Wiktoria Zapalowska (1250) 0-1 · Anti-cheating Blitz Cup · 2020-05-20
Search all games of the Sicilian Defense: McDonnell Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- RabbitShotgun (2304) – scryzq (2441) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- OZYMANDIA07 (2196) – HansGruber (2271) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- euro01 (2145) – Marshall_RBA (2269) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: McDonnell Attack (3. Nf3 e6) 1. e4 c5 2. f4 Nc6 3. 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.