Sicilian Defense:Accelerated Dragon

It is reached after 8 moves: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense.

White is to move and has 42 legal moves. Over the next four moves — two for each side — the game can branch into 1,221,362 different games. Those games reach 411,438 different positions: most positions can be reached in more than one way, 3 on average.

The Lichess opening list names 11 further lines after this position, such as Maróczy Bind (5. c4) and Modern Variation (5. Nc3).

The same moves can be played in 30 different legal orders that all reach this position. For example 1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6, which starts as the Zukertort Opening.