Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted, Danish Variation
1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nf3
The Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted, Danish Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B21, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nf3. 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 644 times by this move order. White won 49%, 3% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 4… cxb2 (49% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.95 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 4… cxb2 5. Bxb2 Nc6 6. Bc4 e6 7. O-O)
- ECO
- B21
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp1ppppp/8/8/4P3/2p2N2/PP3PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nf3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 91 | |
| 1500-1999 | 441 | |
| 2000+ | 112 | |
| All | 644 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… cxb2 | 318 (49%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 152 (24%) | |
| 4… e6 | 68 (11%) | |
| 4… d6 | 45 (7%) | |
| 4… g6 | 26 (4%) | |
| 4… a6 | 11 (2%) | |
| 4… c2 | 5 (1%) | |
| 4… e5 | 5 (1%) |
Master games
44 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 55%, draw 4%, Black 41%). The strongest:
- GM Karen H. Grigoryan (2587) – GM Tigran Kotanjian (2501) 1-0 · 75th ch-ARM HL 2015 · 2015-01-16
- FM Niranjan Navalgund (2289) – IM Christopher Woojin Yoo (2455) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 27th Apr · 2021-04-27
- FM Niranjan Navalgund (2289) – IM Jaroslav Ulko (2437) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 2nd Nov · 2021-11-02
- FM Niranjan Navalgund (2246) – FM Ihor Samunenkov (2454) 0-1 · Titled Tue 16th Aug Early · 2022-08-16
- FM Niranjan Navalgund (2289) – IM David Kalashian (2398) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 1st Sept · 2020-09-01
Highest-rated Lichess games
- JelenaZ (2621) – vwemby (2613) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- aravindArz (2571) – ynzj1515 (2549) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- GM CXCX83 (2599) – Howerts1 (2464) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3
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.