Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation, Bastrikov Variation, Ponomariov Gambit
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Ndb5 Qb8 7. Be3 a6 8. Bb6
The Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation, Bastrikov Variation, Ponomariov Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO B47, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Ndb5 Qb8 7. Be3 a6 8. Bb6. 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 9 times by this move order. White won 56%, 0% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 8… axb5 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.32 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 8… axb5 9. Nxb5 Bb4+ 10. c3 Ba5 11. Nc7+)
- ECO
- B47
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
rqb1kbnr/1p1p1ppp/pBn1p3/1N6/4P3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R2QKB1R b KQkq - 1 8- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Ndb5 Qb8 7. Be3 a6 8. Bb6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 8 | |
| All | 9 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… axb5 | 9 (100%) |
Master games
133 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 14%, Black 49%). The strongest:
- Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-29
- Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) – Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-29
- GM Ivan Popov (2632) – GM Merab Gagunashvili (2601) 1/2-1/2 · IsBank TCh-TUR 2013 · 2013-07-06
- IM Pawel Teclaf (2542) – GM Andrei Volokitin (2677) 0-1 · World Blitz 2021 · 2021-12-30
- GM Boris Savchenko (2552) – GM M. Amin Tabatabaei (2629) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Arena Apr 3rd 2021 · 2021-04-03
Highest-rated Lichess games
- La_Sexy_Evelyn (2389) – DilvinRudil (2445) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- wealthtaxesuk (2381) – CM Ryszard44 (2372) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- AaronGT24 (2366) – SouthAfricanRhino (2365) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation, Bastrikov Variation (5. Nc3 Qc7) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7
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.