Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation, Venice System
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. c3
The Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation, Venice System is a chess opening classified as ECO B28, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. c3. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. Black is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,433 times by this move order. White won 51%, 5% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 3… d5 (34% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.28 (Stockfish, depth 51; best line 3… e6 4. d4 d5 5. exd5 exd5 6. Qe2+)
- ECO
- B28
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/1p1ppppp/p7/2p5/4P3/2P2N2/PP1P1PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. c3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 326 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,208 | |
| 2000+ | 899 | |
| All | 2,433 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… d5 | 828 (34%) | |
| 3… e6 | 534 (22%) | |
| 3… Nc6 | 362 (15%) | |
| 3… d6 O'Kelly Variation, Venice System, Steiner Line | 222 (9%) | |
| 3… b5 O'Kelly Variation, Venice System, Ljubojevic Line | 205 (8%) | |
| 3… Nf6 O'Kelly Variation, Venice System, Barcza Line | 139 (6%) | |
| 3… g6 | 77 (3%) | |
| 3… h6 | 19 (1%) |
Master games
3,017 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 21%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2733) 1-0 · Titled Tue 13th Aug Early · 2024-08-13
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2822) – GM Vladislav Artemiev (2731) 0-1 · Superbet Blitz 2019 · 2019-11-10
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2718) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) 0-1 · CrunchLab Masters Div 1 W · 2024-07-20
- GM Sergey Karjakin (2767) – GM Peter Svidler (2769) 0-1 · Norway Supreme Masters Blitz 2013 · 2013-05-07
- GM So, W. (2767) – GM Vladislav Artemiev (2746) 0-1 · chess.com Speed 2019 · 2019-12-05
Search all games of the Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation, Venice System and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM Mlchael (2870) – TheRealGenghisKhan (2819) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Dondukov (2694) – IM AlexTriapishko (2821) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
- GeForceExperience (2624) – IM AlexTriapishko (2823) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6
Continuations
- Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation, Venice System, Barcza Line B28 · 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. c3 Nf6
- Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation, Venice System, Ljubojevic Line B28 · 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. c3 b5
- Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation, Venice System, Steiner Line B28 · 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. c3 d6
- Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation, Venice System, Gambit Line B28 · 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 Nf6
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.