Sicilian Defense:Accelerated Dragon, Maróczy Bind

White grips the d5 square with pawns on c4 and e4, a bind named after the Hungarian master Géza Maróczy.

It is reached after 9 moves: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense.

Black is to move and has 26 legal moves. Over the next four moves — two for each side — the game can branch into 1,168,312 different games. Those games reach 384,607 different positions: most positions can be reached in more than one way, 3 on average.

The Lichess opening list names 5 further lines after this position, such as Gurgenidze Variation (5... Nf6 6. Nc3 Nxd4 7. Qxd4 d6).

The same moves can be played in 210 different legal orders that all reach this position. For example 1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4, which starts as the Zukertort Opening.