Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Polugaevsky Variation, Simagin Line
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 b5 8. e5 dxe5 9. fxe5 Qc7 10. Qe2
The Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Polugaevsky Variation, Simagin Line is a chess opening classified as ECO B96, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 b5 8. e5 dxe5 9. fxe5 Qc7 10. Qe2. 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 5 times by this move order. White won 60%, 0% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 10… Nfd7 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.57 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 10… Nfd7 11. O-O-O Nc6 12. Nxc6 Qxc6 13. Qd3)
- ECO
- B96
- Moves
- 19 plies
- FEN
rnb1kb1r/2q2ppp/p3pn2/1p2P1B1/3N4/2N5/PPP1Q1PP/R3KB1R b KQkq - 2 10- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 b5 8. e5 dxe5 9. fxe5 Qc7 10. Qe2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 5 | |
| All | 5 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10… Nfd7 | 5 (100%) |
Master games
41 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 51%, draw 10%, Black 39%). The strongest:
- GM Boris Savchenko (2598) – GM Anton Shomoev (2569) 1-0 · 10th Ugra Governor's Cup · 2014-11-12
- IM Novendra Priasmoro (2472) – GM Gergely Aczel (2542) 1/2-1/2 · FSGM March 2019 · 2019-03-12
- GM Vasilios Kotronias (2568) – IM Konstantinos Moutousis (2416) 0-1 · 63rd Chessnale ch-GRE 2014 · 2014-04-01
- GM Jonny Hector (2495) – IM Lars Oskar Hauge (2449) 1-0 · TCh-SWE Elitserien · 2019-03-29
- GM Boris Savchenko (2505) – Jamshid Mustafaev (2313) 1-0 · World Blitz 2023 · 2023-12-30
Highest-rated Lichess games
- TysonT (2310) – armine (2350) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- jamdahl (2145) – jcolet (2123) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 300 + 0s
- hippo333 (2120) – MrChemist (2147) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Polugaevsky Variation 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 b5
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.