Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Vitolins Variation
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Bb5
The Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Vitolins Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B62, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Bb5. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 51 times by this move order. White won 47%, 6% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 7… Bd7 (98% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.14 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 7… Bd7 8. Qd3 Qb6 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Ba4)
- ECO
- B62
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pp3ppp/2nppn2/1B4B1/3NP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R2QK2R b KQkq - 1 7- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Bb5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 25 | |
| 2000+ | 26 | |
| All | 51 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… Bd7 | 50 (98%) | |
| 7… Be7 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
423 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 20%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Anish Giri (2764) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2784) 1/2-1/2 · Skilling Open Prelim · 2020-11-22
- GM Raunak Sadhwani (2638) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2744) 0-1 · FIDE World Rapid Team · 2026-06-18
- GM S.P. Sethuraman (2644) – GM Boris Gelfand (2676) 1-0 · Ayelen Invitational 2020 · 2020-11-18
- GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2701) – GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara (2598) 1-0 · Chess.com Rapid Wk9 Swiss · 2022-04-09
- GM Kacper Piorun (2608) – GM Etienne Bacrot (2678) 0-1 · FIDE World Cup 2021 · 2021-07-27
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Zemial27 (2608) – Fraysinator (2699) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- top1blitzplayer (2543) – Cann_Karo (2731) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- T-80BVM (2587) – khvichachess (2620) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation (6. Bg5 e6) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6
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.