Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation, Venice System, Ljubojevic Line
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. c3 b5
The Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation, Venice System, Ljubojevic Line is a chess opening classified as ECO B28, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. c3 b5. 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 205 times by this move order. White won 51%, 5% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 4. d4 (85% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.69 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4. d4 cxd4 5. cxd4 Bb7 6. d5 e6)
- ECO
- B28
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/3ppppp/p7/1pp5/4P3/2P2N2/PP1P1PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. c3 b5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 45 | |
| 1500-1999 | 123 | |
| 2000+ | 37 | |
| All | 205 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. d4 | 174 (85%) | |
| 4. a4 | 10 (5%) | |
| 4. Bd3 | 4 (2%) | |
| 4. a3 | 4 (2%) | |
| 4. Be2 | 4 (2%) | |
| 4. d3 | 3 (1%) | |
| 4. g3 | 2 (1%) | |
| 4. c4 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
46 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 52%, draw 7%, Black 41%). The strongest:
- GM Ivan Saric (2657) – GM Adam Kozak (2571) 1-0 · Julius Baer Play-In 2023 · 2023-07-24
- GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (2582) – GM Adam Kozak (2526) 0-1 · World Blitz 2021 · 2021-12-29
- IM Max Warmerdam (2506) – GM Sipke Ernst (2540) 0-1 · Apeldoorn Lichess Inv · 2020-06-27
- IM Ivan Sarenac (2407) – GM Igor Miladinovic (2583) 0-1 · 8th ch-SRB 2014 · 2014-04-16
- FM Yahli Sokolovsky (2415) – GM Adam Kozak (2504) 1-0 · 21st ch-EUR Indiv 2021 · 2021-09-05
Highest-rated Lichess games
- vania457 (2392) – Yorkcctv (2401) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- GM Mrjoeyg (2394) – tharianirishi (2321) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Vadim_Valerievich (2303) – Yorkcctv (2411) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation, Venice System 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. c3
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.