Sicilian Defense: McDonnell Attack (7. d3 Nf6)
1. e4 c5 2. f4 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. Bb5 Bg7 5. Bxc6 bxc6 6. O-O d6 7. d3 Nf6
The Sicilian Defense: McDonnell Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO B21, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. f4 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. Bb5 Bg7 5. Bxc6 bxc6 6. O-O d6 7. d3 Nf6. 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 5 times by this move order. White won 20%, 0% were drawn and Black won 80%. The most popular continuation is 8. e5 (20% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.49 (Stockfish, depth 30; best line 8. Qe1 O-O 9. Nc3 a5 10. Kh1 a4)
- ECO
- B21
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/p3ppbp/2pp1np1/2p5/4PP2/3P1N2/PPP3PP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 1 8- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. f4 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. Bb5 Bg7 5. Bxc6 bxc6 6. O-O d6 7. d3 Nf6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 3 | |
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 5 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. e5 | 1 (20%) | |
| 8. Nbd2 | 1 (20%) | |
| 8. Nc3 | 1 (20%) | |
| 8. c4 | 1 (20%) | |
| 8. h3 | 1 (20%) |
Master games
4 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 75%, draw 25%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- IM Christian Koepke (2303) – IM Guillermo Baches Garcia (2319) 1-0 · Titled Tue 13th Feb Early · 2024-02-13
- FM Petro Popovkin (2156) – GM Alexey Kislinsky (2364) 1-0 · Sergiy Shystariov Blitz · 2022-08-26
- Alexander Apanasenok (2236) – WFM Rita Maria Osorio Jorge (1960) 1-0 · Portugal Open Rapid 2018 · 2018-02-10
- Yinuo Liu (1448) – Peisen Lin (1988) 1/2-1/2 · CHN League Men 2019 · 2019-06-19
Search all games of the Sicilian Defense: McDonnell Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Portolu (1990) – Go-Is-Way-Better (2041) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
- finat10 (1982) – xoma1980 (1963) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- anirudhanand (1780) – winningfork (2046) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: McDonnell Attack (4. Bb5 Bg7) 1. e4 c5 2. f4 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. Bb5 Bg7
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.