Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Modern Variation (6. Bg5 Bd7)
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 Bd7
The Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Modern Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B60, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 Bd7. 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 149 times by this move order. White won 40%, 11% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 7. Qd2 (52% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.38 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O e6 9. f4 Be7)
- ECO
- B60
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r2qkb1r/pp1bpppp/2np1n2/6B1/3NP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R2QKB1R w KQkq - 5 7- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 Bd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 7 | |
| 2000+ | 140 | |
| All | 149 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Qd2 | 77 (52%) | |
| 7. Bxf6 | 17 (11%) | |
| 7. Be2 | 13 (9%) | |
| 7. f4 | 13 (9%) | |
| 7. Nxc6 | 7 (5%) | |
| 7. Nb3 | 5 (3%) | |
| 7. Qd3 | 4 (3%) | |
| 7. Bc4 | 4 (3%) |
Master games
1,761 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 22%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) – Berserk 20241119 (3589) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-04
- Berserk 20241119 (3589) – Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-02
- Caissa 1.21.2 (3545) – LCZero 0.31-dag-4167c1e-BT4-6147500-it332 (3648) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-04
- LCZero 0.31-dag-4167c1e-BT4-6147500-it332 (3648) – Caissa 1.21.2 (3545) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-02
- LCZero 0.30-dag-8092b376-BT2-3 (3573) – Ethereal 14.06 (3532) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-24
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM Kostik_Mostik (2890) – Nana_jede_cevape (2910) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- tsnylsw (2743) – GM ILikeBlitz (2826) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Kruciatos (2706) – Nana_jede_cevape (2861) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation (5… Nc6 6. Bg5) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5
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.