Open Sicilian: Win Rate by Lichess Rating

Sicilian Defense: Open · 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 · CC0 name list

At 1500–1799 (Lichess rating), White scored 50.9% in 16,353 Sicilian Defense: Open games (±0.8; games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026).

White won 49.2% of them, Black won 47.4%, and 3.4% were drawn.

White scores above 50% at this level (outside the margin)

In games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026, White scored 50.9% (±0.8) with the Sicilian Defense: Open in sampled Lichess games at the 1500–1799 Lichess rating level (16,353 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

1.4%

of rated games at Lichess rating 1800–2099 reached the Sicilian Defense: Open · 18,388 of 1,329,701 games, Oct 2025–Sep 2026 sample

Under 1200: 0.2%. At 1800–2099: 1.4%. 5.8× as common at 1800–2099 as under 1200.

Position after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4. 52,114 games in this sample reached it — 848 of them by a different move order.

At a glance

In this sample, White's score ranged from 50.8% (1800–2099) to 52.3% (Under 1200).
That spread is within the approximate margin of error, so this sample shows no clear difference between levels.
It appeared most often in the 1800–2099 group (1.4% of that group's games).
Draws were most common in the 2100+ group (6.5%).

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: Open 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: Open — results by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined (minimum 300 games per row).

Under 12001,949 gamesCompared with

White wins 50.8% · draws 2.9% · Black wins 46.3% · White's score 52.3% ±2.2 · how common 0.2%
1200–14996,970 games

White wins 49.8% · draws 2.7% · Black wins 47.6% · White's score 51.1% ±1.2 · how common 0.6%
1500–179916,353 games

White wins 49.2% · draws 3.4% · Black wins 47.4% · White's score 50.9% ±0.8 · how common 1.0%
1800–209918,388 gamesIn the headline

White wins 48.5% · draws 4.4% · Black wins 47.0% · White's score 50.8% ±0.7 · how common 1.4%
2100+8,454 games

White wins 48.0% · draws 6.5% · Black wins 45.6% · White's score 51.2% ±1.0 · how common 1.2%

"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.

See the replies most often played next at the Lichess level you choose, on one printable sheet: Prepare replies in Find Your Opening (the sheet needs JavaScript)

Results by time control

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

Sicilian Defense: Open — 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	17,797	49.1%	3.0%	47.9%	50.6%
Blitz	27,185	49.0%	4.6%	46.4%	51.3%
Rapid	6,881	48.1%	5.1%	46.8%	50.6%
Classical	251	Not enough games in this sample

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 Black at each level

Top replies with at least 150 games. "Score" is Black'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 3.d4 by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined
Rating level	Reply · share · games · score
Under 1200	3...cxd4 ·73.2% · 1,424 · 48.7% ±2.6 3...e6 ·9.8% · 191 · 42.1% ±6.9
1200–1499	3...cxd4 ·83.9% · 5,847 · 49.9% ±1.3 3...e6 ·7.3% · 508 · 46.9% ±4.3 3...d6 ·2.9% · 201 · 42.5% ±6.6
1500–1799	3...cxd4 ·90.8% · 14,844 · 49.4% ±0.8 3...e6 ·4.1% · 674 · 46.7% ±3.7 3...d6 ·1.8% · 295 · 47.3% ±5.6
1800–2099	3...cxd4 ·95.4% · 17,534 · 49.4% ±0.7 3...e6 ·1.8% · 325 · 43.4% ±5.3 3...d6 ·1.1% · 208 · 54.6% ±6.5
2100+	3...cxd4 ·97.7% · 8,256 · 49.0% ±1.0

Up next: related positions with a page

Earlier position: Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6
Deeper line: Accelerated Dragon 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6
Related line: 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 (Sicilian Defense: Closed)
Related line: 1.e4 c5 2.d4 (Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit)
Related line: 1.e4 c5 2.Bc4 (Sicilian Defense: Bowdler Attack)
Related line: 1.e4 c5 2.c3 (Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation)

Deeper positions with this name

The free opening list gives the name Sicilian Defense: Open to 3 deeper positions on this line as well. This page counts the first one; games in the 12-month sample that reached each deeper one:

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4: 51,214 games
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4: 46,385 games
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6: 8,497 games

Download these numbers: Sicilian Defense: Open (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.