Openings · B20–B99

Sicilian Defence

The most played answer to 1.e4: an unbalanced game from move one, and a wing pawn traded for a centre pawn.

1.e4 c5played as Black

Play it through on the board below, and 7 moves into the main line.

Practise the line

You play Black; the other side answers on its own. Nothing here is saved or graded. The line runs on past the moves that define the opening and into the main line, because two moves is not a drill.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
h8
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Your move 1 of 40/4
  1. 1.e4c5
  2. 2.Nf3d6
  3. 3.d4cxd4
  4. 4.Nxd4Nf6
  5. 5.Nc3

White is answering…

The idea

1…c5 refuses to mirror White. After the usual d4 and …cxd4, Black has traded a c-pawn for a d-pawn, owns the half-open c-file, and has a central pawn majority to play with later.

The price is that White gets a lead in development and an obvious attacking plan on the kingside. Sicilian games are races, and the person who understands their own plan better usually wins them regardless of the evaluation.

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level: named traps and the errors every coach corrects.

Leaving b5 to the knight

After 4…e5
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
The mistake
Playing …e5 or …e6 with a pawn on d6 and no …a6, so a knight can land on b5.
Why it costs
The knight on b5 hits d6 and cannot be chased by a pawn. Whole variations exist to make …e5 work, and they all start by taking the b5 square away first.
Instead
…a6 is not a wasted move in the Sicilian — it is why so many Sicilians begin with it. Play it before the committal central move, not after.

Taking on b2

After 5…Qb6
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
The mistake
Bringing the queen out to take the b2 pawn because it is there.
Why it costs
The queen wins a pawn and then spends three or four moves getting home while White develops with threats every time. In the Poisoned Pawn Najdorf this works, because sixty years of analysis say exactly how — outside those lines, it is a lead in development handed over for a pawn.
Instead
Finish developing. The Sicilian's counterplay comes down the c-file, not from raids on the queenside with the queen alone.

Castling one move too late

After 8.Qd2
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
The mistake
Playing one more useful-looking move before castling and getting the rook to c8.
Why it costs
Against the Dragon setup White's plan is fixed and fast — Be3, Qd2, f3, O-O-O, then h4 and h5. It is a race that is decided by a single tempo, and the attack does not have to be better than your counterplay, only quicker.
Instead
Castle, then …Rc8 and …Ne5, and get the knight to c4. Every move that is not part of the race is a move given away.

In real games between beginners

  • 1 in 100games end with Black giving checkmate by move 15. In all openings: 1 in 54.
  • 1 in 45games end with Black getting checkmated by move 15. In all openings: 1 in 33.

From 20,134 Lichess games in this opening between players rated under 1200, blitz and slower, September 2026. How we counted.

What the engine says

After 1.e4 c5, these are White's six best moves according to Stockfish, with the bar showing White's chance of winning. The whole list sits within 3 percentage points of win chance: none of them is a mistake, and the choice is about the positions you want to play.

  1. Nf3+0.3
  2. Nc3+0.3
  3. c3+0.2
  4. Be2+0.1
  5. d4+0.1
  6. h3+0.1

The engine's main line from Nf3: Nf3 Nc6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 e6.

Stockfish 18, depth 24. Scores are in pawns from White's side. Another engine or depth will move individual numbers a little; the picture does not change. How we check.

Where it fits

The lines out of it with pages of their own: Sicilian, Alapin, Sicilian, Closed, Sicilian, Smith–Morra Gambit, Sicilian, Accelerated Dragon, Sicilian, Classical, Sicilian, Dragon, Sicilian, Najdorf and Sicilian, Sveshnikov.

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