Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Neo-Modern Variation, Early Deviations
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6
The Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Neo-Modern Variation, Early Deviations is a chess opening classified as ECO B66, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6. 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 300 times by this move order. White won 46%, 9% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 8. O-O-O (88% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.43 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 8. O-O-O Bd7 9. f3 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Be7)
- ECO
- B66
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/1p3ppp/p1nppn2/6B1/3NP3/2N5/PPPQ1PPP/R3KB1R w KQkq - 0 8- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 20 | |
| 2000+ | 280 | |
| All | 300 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. O-O-O | 264 (88%) | |
| 8. Nxc6 | 15 (5%) | |
| 8. f4 | 8 (3%) | |
| 8. f3 | 7 (2%) | |
| 8. Be2 | 4 (1%) | |
| 8. h4 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
5,438 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 23%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- Ethereal 12.19 (3708) – LCZero v0.25.1-sv-t60-3010 (3809) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-05-31
- LCZero v0.25.1-sv-t60-3010 (3809) – Ethereal 12.19 (3708) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-05-28
- LCZero 0.28-dev+_69626 (3623) – Stockfish 14_202107131735 (3639) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 21 Superfinal 2021 · 2021-07-20
- Stockfish 14_202107131735 (3639) – LCZero 0.28-dev+_69626 (3623) 1-0 · TCEC 21 Superfinal 2021 · 2021-07-20
- KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) – Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-23
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Sunrise34 (2867) – barteljaap-jan (2910) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Sunrise34 (2876) – molecularchemist285 (2850) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- kuhmft (2824) – IM PVKMSSSSR3991 (2695) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 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.