Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, English Attack (7… Be7 8. f3)
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. f3
The Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, English Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO B90, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. f3. 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 374 times by this move order. White won 49%, 6% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 8… Be6 (66% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.30 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 8… Be6 9. Qd2 h5 10. Be2 Nbd7 11. Nd5)
- ECO
- B90
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/1p2bppp/p2p1n2/4p3/4P3/1NN1BP2/PPP3PP/R2QKB1R b KQkq - 0 8- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. f3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 9 | |
| 1500-1999 | 136 | |
| 2000+ | 229 | |
| All | 374 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… Be6 | 245 (66%) | |
| 8… O-O | 86 (23%) | |
| 8… h5 | 24 (6%) | |
| 8… Nc6 | 6 (2%) | |
| 8… b5 | 5 (1%) | |
| 8… Nbd7 | 4 (1%) | |
| 8… h6 | 1 (0%) | |
| 8… d5 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
2,051 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 17%, Black 42%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2765) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2786) 1/2-1/2 · Superbet Blitz 2022 · 2022-05-23
- GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2763) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2778) 1-0 · Saint Louis Blitz 2019 · 2019-08-13
- GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2752) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2759) 1-0 · Titled Tue 16th Jan Late · 2024-01-16
- GM Yi Wei (2732) – GM Anish Giri (2764) 1/2-1/2 · 11th Hainan Danzhou GM · 2020-12-08
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2721) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2767) 1-0 · Saint Louis Blitz 2024 · 2024-08-16
Search all games of the Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, English Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Juplt3rLlk3 (2705) – IM MrSuccess (2634) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- ANKARA_MESSI2022 (2767) – IM Angelicanmade (2530) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Papolabestia123 (2578) – AstorMonserrat (2695) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, English Attack (5… a6 6. Be3) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3
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.