Old Sicilian: Win Rate by Lichess Rating

Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian · 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 · CC0 name list

At 1500–1799 (Lichess rating), Black scored 49.0% in 39,118 Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian games (±0.5; games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026).

Black won 47.1% of them, White won 49.2%, and 3.7% were drawn.

Black scores below 50% at this level (outside the margin)

In games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026, Black scored 49.0% (±0.5) with the Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian in sampled Lichess games at the 1500–1799 Lichess rating level (39,118 games). Observed results, not causation.

Data period: games from 1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026 (sample of the Lichess open database) · Page updated: 9 Oct 2026

2.8%

of rated games at Lichess rating 1800–2099 reached the Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian · 37,410 of 1,329,701 games, Oct 2025–Sep 2026 sample

Under 1200: 0.9%. At 1800–2099: 2.8%. 3.1× as common at 1800–2099 as under 1200.

Position after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6. 120,371 games in this sample reached it — 1,114 of them by a different move order.

At a glance

In this sample, White's score ranged from 50.1% (1200–1499) to 51.9% (2100+).
Treat this spread with caution: the margins are approximate (see How it works).
It appeared most often in the 1800–2099 group (2.8% of that group's games).
Draws were most common in the 2100+ group (6.2%).

These are observed results for the selected games (rated, players within 200 rating points of each other). They describe what happened — they do not prove the opening caused the result.

Results by Lichess rating level

Each row shows how the Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian games at one rating level ended: White wins, draws and Black wins, across all time controls combined. Rating level is the average Lichess rating of both players.

White won drawn Black won. Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian — results by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined (minimum 300 games per row).

Under 12007,397 gamesCompared with

White wins 49.1% · draws 2.9% · Black wins 48.1% · White's score 50.5% ±1.1 · how common 0.9%
1200–149920,351 games

White wins 48.6% · draws 3.0% · Black wins 48.4% · White's score 50.1% ±0.7 · how common 1.7%
1500–179939,118 games

White wins 49.2% · draws 3.7% · Black wins 47.1% · White's score 51.0% ±0.5 · how common 2.5%
1800–209937,410 gamesIn the headline

White wins 49.2% · draws 4.5% · Black wins 46.3% · White's score 51.5% ±0.5 · how common 2.8%
2100+16,095 games

White wins 48.8% · draws 6.2% · Black wins 45.0% · White's score 51.9% ±0.7 · how common 2.3%

"White's score" = wins + half of draws. "±" is an approximate 95% margin based only on the number of games. It does not cover sampling bias or related games (the same players appear many times), so real uncertainty is larger. "How common" = share of all sampled games at that level that reached this position. Ratings are Lichess ratings; they are not interchangeable with Chess.com or FIDE ratings.

Compare it with another choice from the same position, at the Lichess level and time control you choose: Compare in Find Your Opening (the comparison needs JavaScript)

Results by time control

Each row shows how the Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian games ended in one Lichess time control, across all rating levels combined.

Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian — results by time control, all rating levels combined (minimum 300 games per row)
Time control	Games	White wins	Draws	Black wins	White's score
Bullet	37,260	49.4%	2.8%	47.8%	50.8%
Blitz	64,303	49.2%	4.6%	46.2%	51.5%
Rapid	18,212	48.0%	4.9%	47.1%	50.4%
Classical	596	43.3%	7.6%	49.2%	47.1%

This table and the rating rows are separate summaries: rating levels are not split by time control here, and time controls are not split by rating. Observed results only; approximate uncertainty applies as above.

Most played replies for White at each level

Top replies with at least 150 games. "Score" is White's score after that reply (wins + half of draws). These comparisons alone can't show that one reply is reliably better — the margins are approximate and stronger or weaker players may prefer different replies.

Replies to 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined
Rating level	Reply · share · games · score
Under 1200	3.Bc4 ·31.8% · 2,348 · 49.7% ±2.0 3.d4 ·25.8% · 1,910 · 52.5% ±2.2 3.Nc3 ·15.4% · 1,140 · 50.5% ±2.9
1200–1499	3.d4 ·33.8% · 6,878 · 51.2% ±1.2 3.Bc4 ·27.3% · 5,543 · 48.2% ±1.3 3.Bb5 ·12.4% · 2,514 · 51.9% ±1.9
1500–1799	3.d4 ·41.4% · 16,192 · 50.8% ±0.8 3.Bc4 ·20.3% · 7,951 · 49.2% ±1.1 3.c3 ·12.1% · 4,746 · 52.6% ±1.4
1800–2099	3.d4 ·48.7% · 18,204 · 50.8% ±0.7 3.Bc4 ·12.6% · 4,695 · 50.4% ±1.4 3.c3 ·12.5% · 4,674 · 51.9% ±1.4
2100+	3.d4 ·52.1% · 8,378 · 51.2% ±1.0 3.Bb5 ·19.4% · 3,127 · 53.4% ±1.7 3.c3 ·9.4% · 1,516 · 53.2% ±2.4

Up next: related positions with a page

Earlier position: Sicilian Defense 1.e4 c5
Deeper line: Open Sicilian 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4
Related line: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 (Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon)
Related line: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 (Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation)
Related line: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 (Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation)

Other choices from the same position for Black: each one's own level and score, as on its page
Opening	Lichess rating level	Games	Black's score
vs Sicilian Defense: Modern Variations 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6	1500–1799	20,387	50.0% ±0.7
vs Sicilian Defense: French Variation 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6	1500–1799	16,443	49.6% ±0.8
vs Sicilian Defense: Hyperaccelerated Dragon 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6	1500–1799	3,276	50.1% ±1.7

Each row is a separate page with its own games. A difference smaller than the two margins combined is no clear difference. Observed results, not causation.

Download these numbers: Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian (CSV), released under CC0. For move-by-move exploration with your own filters, see the free Lichess opening explorer. This independent page lists each rating level and each time control in its own row for comparison.