Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Dragon Variation
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 g6
The Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Dragon Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B60, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 g6. 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 44 times by this move order. White won 52%, 3% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 7. Bxf6 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.46 (Stockfish, depth 41; best line 7. Bb5 Bd7 8. Bxf6 exf6 9. Qd2 Bg7)
- ECO
- B60
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pp2pp1p/2np1np1/6B1/3NP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R2QKB1R w KQkq - 0 7- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 g6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 19 | |
| 2000+ | 24 | |
| All | 44 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Bxf6 | 20 (45%) | |
| 7. Bb5 | 8 (18%) | |
| 7. f3 | 4 (9%) | |
| 7. Qd2 | 4 (9%) | |
| 7. Be2 | 4 (9%) | |
| 7. Bc4 | 2 (5%) | |
| 7. f4 | 2 (5%) |
Master games
122 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 22%, draw 39%, Black 39%). The strongest:
- GM Sergey Karjakin (2757) – GM Daniil Dubov (2710) 1/2-1/2 · Magnus Carlsen Inv Prelim · 2021-03-13
- GM Evgeny Alekseev (2619) – GM Daniil Dubov (2710) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 13th Apr · 2021-04-13
- GM David Brodsky (2515) – GM Dmitry Andreikin (2729) 0-1 · Titled Tue 9th Apr Late · 2024-04-09
- GM Nils Grandelius (2572) – GM Alexander Ipatov (2587) 1-0 · 75th Tata Steel GpB · 2013-01-17
- GM Andreas Heimann (2587) – GM Jonathan Westerberg (2526) 1-0 · 36th ECC Open 2021 · 2021-09-23
Highest-rated Lichess games
- smihir6 (2709) – GM novik70 (2534) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- atsaynm (2663) – GM novik70 (2527) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- sunchess137 (2640) – GM novik70 (2532) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Open (4. Nxd4 Nf6) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 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.