Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Classical Variation (7. O-O Qc7)

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O Qc7

The Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Classical Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B84, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O Qc7. 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 29 times by this move order. White won 31%, 3% were drawn and Black won 66%. The most popular continuation is 8. Be3 (34% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.31 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 8. f4 Be7 9. a4 Nc6 10. Be3 O-O)

ECO: B84
Moves: 14 plies
FEN: rnb1kb1r/1pq2ppp/p2ppn2/8/3NP3/2N5/PPP1BPPP/R1BQ1RK1 w kq - 2 8
PGN: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O Qc7

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
1500-1999	13	38%62%
2000+	16	25%69%
All	29	31%66%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
8. Be3	10 (34%)	30%60%
8. f4	7 (24%)	14%86%
8. Kh1	4 (14%)	50%50%
8. Bg5	3 (10%)	33%67%
8. a4	2 (7%)	50%50%
8. Bf3	1 (3%)	100%
8. Nb3	1 (3%)	100%
8. h3	1 (3%)	100%

Master games

202 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 27%, draw 25%, Black 48%). The strongest:

GM Ivan Popov (2609) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2716) 1/2-1/2 · 65th ch-RUS HL · 2012-06-19
GM Jakov Geller (2545) – GM Andrei Volokitin (2702) 1-0 · 20th TCh-RUS 2013 · 2013-04-07
GM Daniil Lintchevski (2522) – GM Maxim Matlakov (2676) 1/2-1/2 · Petersburg Summer Rapid 2013 · 2013-09-01
GM Zoltan Almasi (2682) – GM Vladimir Dobrov (2515) 0-1 · World Blitz 2017 · 2017-12-29
GM Alexander Kovchan (2577) – GM Isan Reynaldo Ortiz Suarez (2612) 1-0 · XV Sant Marti Open A · 2013-07-19

Search all games of the Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Classical Variation and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

mwelin77 (2469) – FNENAD (2554) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
NM totoroo (2401) – bigconte (2391) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
neuwirth (2241) – OlegHackevich (2408) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 300 + 0s

Comes from

Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Classical Variation (6. Be2 e6) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6

More Sicilian Defense lines (all)

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.