Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Neo-Modern Variation (8. O-O-O Bd7)
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O Bd7
The Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Neo-Modern Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B67, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O Bd7. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 40 times by this move order. White won 55%, 12% were drawn and Black won 33%. The most popular continuation is 9. f4 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.41 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 9. f4 Be7 10. Nf3 b5 11. Bxf6 gxf6)
- ECO
- B67
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
r2qkb1r/1p1b1ppp/p1nppn2/6B1/3NP3/2N5/PPPQ1PPP/2KR1B1R w kq - 2 9- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O Bd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 39 | |
| All | 40 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9. f4 | 18 (45%) | |
| 9. f3 | 12 (30%) | |
| 9. Kb1 | 5 (13%) | |
| 9. Nb3 | 1 (3%) | |
| 9. h4 | 1 (3%) | |
| 9. Be2 | 1 (3%) | |
| 9. g3 | 1 (3%) | |
| 9. Nf3 | 1 (3%) |
Master games
1,208 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 24%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) – Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-08-01
- GM Pentala Harikrishna (2726) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2828) 0-1 · Champions Showdown Blitz · 2019-02-23
- GM Sergey Karjakin (2760) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2794) 1-0 · FIDE Candidates 2016 · 2016-03-28
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2766) – GM Richard Rapport (2764) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Candidates 2022 · 2022-07-03
- GM Anish Giri (2780) – GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2734) 1/2-1/2 · WR Chess Masters 2023 · 2023-02-24
Highest-rated Lichess games
- atsaynm (2664) – chesstrain866 (2633) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- taikatemppu (2353) – GM Elmarmalade (2596) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 300 + 0s
- flAsH114 (2511) – Snoow_man (2378) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Open (4. Nxd4 Nf6) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
Continuations
- Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Neo-Modern Variation (9. f4 Be7) B68 · 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O Bd7 9. f4 Be7
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.