Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian
Chess opening · ECO B30 · 4 half-moves
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6
The Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian is reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6. It is White's move in the position shown.
It branches from the Sicilian Defense with 2. Nf3 Nc6.
How often it is played
The Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian and its variations appeared in 2.1% of games — 62,759 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 21 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 49%, 4.0% were drawn and Black won 47%. 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 +0.43 — a small 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.
| Opening | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Sicilian Defense: French Variation | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 | 1.3% |
| Sicilian Defense: Modern Variations | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 | 1.2% |
| Sicilian Defense: Closed | 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 | 0.99% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Sicilian Defense: Open | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 | 0.94% |
| Sicilian Defense: Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 | 0.27% |
| Sicilian Defense: Portsmouth Gambit | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. b4 | 0.02% |
| Sicilian Defense: Closed, Anti-Sveshnikov Variation | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 | 0.01% |
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