Sicilian Defense: McDonnell Attack, Tal Gambit
1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 Nf6
The Sicilian Defense: McDonnell Attack, Tal Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO B21, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 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 846 times by this move order. White won 47%, 5% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 4. c4 (38% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.06 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4. Nc3 Nxd5 5. Nxd5 Qxd5 6. Qf3 Qe6+)
- ECO
- B21
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp2pppp/5n2/2pP4/5P2/8/PPPP2PP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 Nf6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 34 | |
| 1500-1999 | 564 | |
| 2000+ | 248 | |
| All | 846 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. c4 | 324 (38%) | |
| 4. Nf3 | 250 (30%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 153 (18%) | |
| 4. Bb5+ | 71 (8%) | |
| 4. Bc4 | 23 (3%) | |
| 4. d4 | 14 (2%) | |
| 4. d6 | 5 (1%) | |
| 4. c3 | 4 (0%) |
Master games
330 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 28%, draw 17%, Black 55%). The strongest:
- GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2753) – GM Anish Giri (2734) 0-1 · 26th Leon Masters g20 · 2013-06-08
- GM David Navara (2727) – GM Alexander Moiseenko (2692) 1-0 · European Blitz 2014 · 2014-12-19
- GM Pranesh M (2576) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2757) 0-1 · Chess.com Classic Play-In · 2025-05-19
- GM Sarunas Sulskis (2531) – GM Alexei Shirov (2713) 1/2-1/2 · Latvian Railway Open 2014 · 2014-03-28
- IM Vadim Moiseenko (2528) – GM Artyom Timofeev (2601) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-RUS Rapid 2016 · 2016-10-06
Search all games of the Sicilian Defense: McDonnell Attack, Tal Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- ZhangXS (2686) – qzrchess77 (2525) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- Poblesk (2532) – DailyTornado (2570) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Taynishpion2025 (2548) – NimzoStrikesAgain (2546) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: McDonnell Attack (1… c5 2. f4) 1. e4 c5 2. 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.