Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Poisoned Pawn Accepted
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3
The Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Poisoned Pawn Accepted is a chess opening classified as ECO B97, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3. 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 130 times by this move order. White won 37%, 8% were drawn and Black won 55%. The most popular continuation is 10. f5 (29% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 54; best line 10. f5 Nc6 11. fxe6 fxe6 12. Nxc6 bxc6)
- ECO
- B97
- Moves
- 18 plies
- FEN
rnb1kb1r/1p3ppp/p2ppn2/6B1/3NPP2/q1N5/P1PQ2PP/1R2KB1R w Kkq - 2 10- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 14 | |
| 2000+ | 116 | |
| All | 130 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10. f5 | 38 (29%) | |
| 10. e5 | 34 (26%) | |
| 10. Bxf6 | 19 (15%) | |
| 10. Be2 | 16 (12%) | |
| 10. Rb3 | 9 (7%) | |
| 10. Bc4 | 9 (7%) | |
| 10. Bd3 | 2 (2%) | |
| 10. Ncb5 | 2 (2%) |
Master games
626 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 31%, draw 38%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2813) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) 0-1 · Titled Tue 2nd Dec 2025 · 2025-12-02
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2842) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2767) 1-0 · FIDE Candidates 2020 · 2021-04-19
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2823) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2784) 1-0 · 83rd Tata Steel Masters · 2021-01-23
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2819) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2779) 1-0 · 7th Norway Chess 2019 · 2019-06-05
- GM Sergey Karjakin (2782) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2786) 1/2-1/2 · 8th Tal Memorial · 2013-06-23
Highest-rated Lichess games
- bombokobombo123456 (2679) – UncleFlexxx (2622) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- malaida-annamalai (2569) – bata_njaa (2713) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Oxota_2001 (2526) – Towser1 (2660) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Poisoned Pawn Variation 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6
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.