Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Ivanov Variation
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 Qb6
The Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Ivanov 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 Qb6. 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 6 times by this move order. White won 33%, 17% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 8. Nb3 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.62 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 8. Nb3 Be7 9. O-O-O O-O 10. Kb1 d5)
- ECO
- B63
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1b1kb1r/pp3ppp/1qnppn2/6B1/3NP3/2N5/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 Qb6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 6 | |
| All | 6 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Nb3 | 3 (50%) | |
| 8. Nxc6 | 2 (33%) | |
| 8. O-O-O | 1 (17%) |
Master games
228 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 36%, draw 27%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- GM Grigoriy Oparin (2681) – GM Richard Rapport (2763) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Grand Prix 1 Pool B · 2022-02-06
- GM Tigran Gharamian (2614) – GM Romain Edouard (2638) 1-0 · 93rd ch-FRA 2018 · 2018-08-19
- GM Marin Bosiocic (2605) – GM Zdenko Kozul (2611) 1/2-1/2 · ch-CRO 2018 · 2018-04-18
- GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2653) – GM Zdenko Kozul (2531) 1/2-1/2 · Tournament of Peace 2023 · 2023-11-26
- GM Ivan Cheparinov (2649) – GM Zdenko Kozul (2531) 1/2-1/2 · Tournament of Peace 2023 · 2023-11-29
Highest-rated Lichess games
- chessgrandfather1975 (2652) – vwemby (2600) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- FM AdamCollins (2642) – vwemby (2562) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- JBallester (2126) – Abelac19 (2222) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 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
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.