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
The Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Poisoned Pawn Variation 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. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 348 times by this move order. White won 43%, 6% were drawn and Black won 51%. The most popular continuation is 8. Qd2 (51% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.08 (Stockfish, depth 65; best line 8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. f5 Nc6)
- ECO
- B97
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
rnb1kb1r/1p3ppp/pq1ppn2/6B1/3NPP2/2N5/PPP3PP/R2QKB1R w KQkq - 1 8- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 59 | |
| 2000+ | 289 | |
| All | 348 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Qd2 | 177 (51%) | |
| 8. Nb3 | 92 (26%) | |
| 8. Bxf6 | 25 (7%) | |
| 8. a3 | 25 (7%) | |
| 8. Qd3 | 16 (5%) | |
| 8. e5 | 5 (1%) | |
| 8. Na4 | 3 (1%) | |
| 8. Qf3 | 2 (1%) |
Master games
876 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 22%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2808) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2785) 1-0 · 5th Norway Chess 2017 · 2017-06-16
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2789) – GM Anish Giri (2776) 1/2-1/2 · Magnus Carlsen Inv KO · 2021-03-21
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2789) – GM Anish Giri (2776) 1/2-1/2 · Magnus Carlsen Inv KO · 2021-03-21
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2791) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2766) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com Speed 2021 · 2021-11-29
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2769) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2780) 1-0 · chess.com IoM Masters · 2018-10-28
Highest-rated Lichess games
- TIMETOLOCKINN (2623) – PyPsIk2012 (2716) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- bombokobombo123456 (2605) – NameTheGame (2709) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- bombokobombo123456 (2679) – UncleFlexxx (2622) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation (6… e6 7. f4) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4
Continuations
- Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Poisoned Pawn Accepted B97 · 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
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.