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
The Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Classical Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B63, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 Be7. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 110 times by this move order. White won 56%, 7% were drawn and Black won 37%. The most popular continuation is 8. O-O-O (81% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.36 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 8. O-O-O a6 9. f4 Qc7 10. a3 Nxd4)
- ECO
- B63
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pp2bppp/2nppn2/6B1/3NP3/2N5/PPPQ1PPP/R3KB1R w KQkq - 2 8- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 Be7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 21 | |
| 2000+ | 89 | |
| All | 110 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. O-O-O | 89 (81%) | |
| 8. f3 | 9 (8%) | |
| 8. f4 | 9 (8%) | |
| 8. Bxf6 | 1 (1%) | |
| 8. Bb5 | 1 (1%) | |
| 8. Nxc6 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
827 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 24%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- AllieStein v0.8-120f959_net-15.0 (3536) – LCZero v0.26.2-rc1_J92-100 (3543) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 19 Premier 2020 · 2020-09-11
- LCZero v0.26.2-rc1_J92-100 (3543) – AllieStein v0.8-120f959_net-15.0 (3536) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 19 Premier 2020 · 2020-09-08
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2862) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2749) 1-0 · Magnus-Alireza Bullet · 2021-02-22
- GM So, W. (2767) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2774) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com Speed 2019 · 2019-11-19
- GM Sergey Karjakin (2752) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2784) 1/2-1/2 · Skilling Open Prelim · 2020-11-22
Highest-rated Lichess games
- InvisibleGuest2023 (2813) – GM Babushka28 (2811) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Danachess777 (2842) – Nadigraj (2735) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- satunnainen (2736) – makchudra (2616) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Traditional Variation 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2
Continuations
- Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Classical Variation (8… O-O 9. f4) B64 · 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
- Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Classical Variation, Kantscher Line B63 · 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 Nxd4 9. Qxd4 a6 10. 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.