Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation, Maróczy Bind, Robatsch Line
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. c4 d6
The Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation, Maróczy Bind, Robatsch Line is a chess opening classified as ECO B28, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. c4 d6. 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 128 times by this move order. White won 56%, 9% were drawn and Black won 35%. The most popular continuation is 4. d4 (56% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.41 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Nc6)
- ECO
- B28
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/1p2pppp/p2p4/2p5/2P1P3/5N2/PP1P1PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. c4 d6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 12 | |
| 1500-1999 | 32 | |
| 2000+ | 84 | |
| All | 128 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. d4 | 72 (56%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 47 (37%) | |
| 4. b3 | 3 (2%) | |
| 4. Be2 | 2 (2%) | |
| 4. d3 | 2 (2%) | |
| 4. Bd3 | 1 (1%) | |
| 4. a3 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
351 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 21%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- GM Pavel Ponkratov (2593) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2756) 0-1 · CGC KO 2022 · 2022-09-15
- GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov (2662) – GM Luis Galego (2471) 1/2-1/2 · 43rd Olympiad 2018 · 2018-10-04
- GM Qun Ma (2559) – GM Shilong Li (2558) 1-0 · ch-CHN 2013 · 2013-04-17
- GM Nikola Nestorovic (2473) – GM Ivan Ivanisevic (2611) 1/2-1/2 · 13th ch-SRB 2019 · 2019-04-07
- GM Luka Paichadze (2516) – GM Konstantine Shanava (2563) 1/2-1/2 · 72nd ch-GEO 2013 · 2013-06-22
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Artemov-Andriy (2520) – Servantik1979 (2534) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- MoonGambit3 (2446) – Servantik1979 (2534) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- chessssacc_2026 (2418) – Servantik1979 (2535) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation, Maróczy Bind 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. c4
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.