Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, English Attack, Anti-English
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Ng4
The Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, English Attack, Anti-English 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 Ng4. 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 341 times by this move order. White won 46%, 5% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 7. Bg5 (40% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.23 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3 Bg7)
- ECO
- B90
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/1p2pppp/p2p4/8/3NP1n1/2N1B3/PPP2PPP/R2QKB1R w KQkq - 2 7- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Ng4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 9 | |
| 1500-1999 | 167 | |
| 2000+ | 165 | |
| All | 341 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Bg5 | 136 (40%) | |
| 7. Bc1 | 60 (18%) | |
| 7. Bd2 | 43 (13%) | |
| 7. Qd2 | 39 (11%) | |
| 7. Bf4 | 12 (4%) | |
| 7. Be2 | 10 (3%) | |
| 7. Bc4 | 9 (3%) | |
| 7. Qf3 | 8 (2%) |
Master games
1,930 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 31%, draw 39%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- Stockfish 202003092246 (3936) – KomodoMCTS 2503.05 (3809) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-24
- KomodoMCTS 2503.05 (3809) – Stockfish 202003092246 (3936) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-21
- LCZero v0.24-sv-t60-3010 (3840) – ScorpioNN 3.0.8 (3706) 1-0 · 5th TCEC Cup 2020 · 2020-04-26
- Ethereal 12.09 (3718) – AllieStein v0.6-n14.3beta (3815) 1-0 · 5th TCEC Cup 2020 · 2020-04-26
- AllieStein v0.6-n14.3beta (3815) – Ethereal 12.09 (3718) 1-0 · 5th TCEC Cup 2020 · 2020-04-26
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Papolabestia123 (2565) – Dierforator (2514) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- chessruiwang (2562) – Dierforator (2491) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Hippolytus (2559) – TBT2026 (2488) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 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.