Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Classical Variation (8… O-O 9. f4)
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 Be7 8. O-O-O O-O 9. f4
The Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Classical Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B64, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 Be7 8. O-O-O O-O 9. f4. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 13 times by this move order. White won 38%, 16% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 9… Nxd4 (54% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.50 (Stockfish, depth 35; best line 9… Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Qa5 11. Kb1 h6 12. h4)
- ECO
- B64
- Moves
- 17 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pp2bppp/2nppn2/6B1/3NPP2/2N5/PPPQ2PP/2KR1B1R b - - 0 9- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 Be7 8. O-O-O O-O 9. f4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 12 | |
| All | 13 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9… Nxd4 Richter-Rauzer Variation, Rauzer Attack | 7 (54%) | |
| 9… h6 | 3 (23%) | |
| 9… Bd7 | 2 (15%) | |
| 9… Qa5 | 1 (8%) |
Master games
143 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 28%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- GM Dmitry Andreikin (2733) – GM Ilia Smirin (2676) 1/2-1/2 · 17th Karpov Poikovsky · 2016-08-01
- GM David Navara (2730) – GM Ivan Popov (2650) 0-1 · European Rapid 2015 · 2015-12-20
- GM Sam Shankland (2656) – GM Ivan Popov (2661) 1-0 · FIDE World Cup 2015 · 2015-09-11
- GM Alexander Motylev (2661) – GM Dmitry Kryakvin (2595) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-RUS Blitz 2018 · 2018-10-10
- GM Alexei Shirov (2701) – GM Alon Greenfeld (2551) 0-1 · 30th ECC Open 2014 · 2014-09-16
Highest-rated Lichess games
- nuitet989893 (2619) – atsaynm (2623) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- TTtrain (2540) – atsaynm (2629) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Yaponets (2546) – makchudra (2615) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Classical Variation (7. Qd2 Be7) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 Be7
Continuations
- Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Rauzer Attack B65 · 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 Be7 8. O-O-O O-O 9. f4 Nxd4
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.