Sicilian Defense: Venice Attack
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Bb5+
The Sicilian Defense: Venice Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO B56, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. 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 91 times by this move order. White won 64%, 3% were drawn and Black won 33%. The most popular continuation is 6… Bd7 (67% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.50 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 6… Nbd7 7. Nf5 a6 8. Be2 Nb6 9. Ne3)
- ECO
- B56
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp3ppp/3p1n2/1B2p3/3NP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 1 6- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Bb5+
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 13 | |
| 1500-1999 | 49 | |
| 2000+ | 29 | |
| All | 91 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Bd7 | 61 (67%) | |
| 6… Nbd7 | 29 (32%) |
Master games
360 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 24%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2805) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2794) 0-1 · 12th Norway Armageddon · 2024-05-27
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2803) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2789) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Candidates 2024 · 2024-04-04
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2733) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2794) 1-0 · Titled Tue 21st May Late · 2024-05-21
- GM David Anton Guijarro (2679) – GM Pentala Harikrishna (2732) 1/2-1/2 · 83rd Tata Steel Masters · 2021-01-26
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2840) – GM Cem Kaan Gokerkan (2501) 1-0 · 1st 3-0 Thu 22nd Jan 2026 · 2026-01-22
Search all games of the Sicilian Defense: Venice Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- CM vlaxaki (2583) – Chu-do (2539) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Artek_2021 (2666) – chevalierl (2457) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 0s
- joobree (2472) – Chu-do (2484) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Modern Variations, Main Line 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
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.