Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon

Chess opening · ECO B32 · 8 half-moves

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6

The Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon is reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6. It is White's move in the position shown.

It branches from the Sicilian Defense: Open with 3… cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6.

How often it is played

The Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon and its variations appeared in 0.26% of games — 7,943 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 150 of the openings listed here.

Results

White won 47%, 4.5% were drawn and Black won 48%. These are games between players of every strength and time control, so they say how the opening does in practice rather than how sound it is.

What the engine thinks

Stockfish, at depth 18, evaluates the position at +0.68 — a clear edge for White. Positive numbers favour White; see reading the evaluation bar.

Similar openings

The most-played alternatives — what else could have been chosen around the move where this opening begins.

OpeningMovesShare of games
Sicilian Defense: Löwenthal Variation1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e50.20%
Sicilian Defense: Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb50.27%
Sicilian Defense: French Variation1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e61.3%

Main continuations

VariationMovesShare of games
Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon, Modern Variation1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc30.13%
Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon, Exchange Variation1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nxc60.06%
Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon, Maróczy Bind1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c40.04%

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