Sicilian Defense: Wing Gambit Deferred
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. b4
The Sicilian Defense: Wing Gambit Deferred is a chess opening classified as ECO B40, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. b4. 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 563 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 3… cxb4 (68% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.37 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 3… cxb4 4. a3 Nf6 5. e5 Nd5 6. axb4)
- ECO
- B40
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp1p1ppp/4p3/2p5/1P2P3/5N2/P1PP1PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. b4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 22 | |
| 1500-1999 | 241 | |
| 2000+ | 300 | |
| All | 563 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… cxb4 | 384 (68%) | |
| 3… b6 | 74 (13%) | |
| 3… d5 | 53 (9%) | |
| 3… Nc6 | 15 (3%) | |
| 3… a6 | 12 (2%) | |
| 3… d6 | 10 (2%) | |
| 3… Nf6 | 9 (2%) | |
| 3… c4 | 2 (0%) |
Master games
459 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 9%, Black 50%). The strongest:
- GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (2594) – GM Dmitry Andreikin (2729) 0-1 · Titled Tue 21st Jun Late · 2022-06-21
- GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy (2629) – GM Sergei Rublevsky (2651) 0-1 · TCh-SRB Premier 2020 · 2020-10-01
- GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy (2629) – GM Alexander Moiseenko (2620) 1-0 · Vl Eljanov Mem Final 2020 · 2020-10-29
- GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy (2629) – GM Baadur Jobava (2603) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 13th Oct · 2020-10-13
- GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy (2593) – GM Alexander Moiseenko (2623) 1/2-1/2 · 88th ch-UKR 2019 · 2019-12-19
Search all games of the Sicilian Defense: Wing Gambit Deferred and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- SugarMagnolia (2491) – MandibleusZygomidus (2454) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- ElgringoC (2479) – Semkov (2452) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
- Azamat-Ulkhanov (2506) – SacCheckMate (2390) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: French Variation 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 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.