Sicilian Defense:Closed

With 2. Nc3 White keeps the centre closed and often fianchettoes the king’s bishop; Boris Spassky was among its best-known players.

It is reached after 3 moves: 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense.

Black is to move and has 22 legal moves. Over the next four moves — two for each side — the game can branch into 549,513 different games. Those games reach 189,898 different positions: most positions can be reached in more than one way, 2.9 on average.

The Lichess opening list names 23 further lines after this position, such as Traditional (2... Nc6) and Carlsen Variation (2... d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Qd2).

The same moves can be played in 2 different legal orders that all reach this position. For example 1. Nc3 c5 2. e4, which starts as the Van Geet Opening.