Chess openings: Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3 (B26)

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Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3 (B26)
1 e4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 g3 g6 4 Bg2 Bg7 5 d3 d6 6 Be3

Number of games in database: 39
Years covered: 1881 to 2019
Overall record:
   White wins 25.6%
   Black wins 48.7%
   Draws 25.6%

Popularity graph, by decade

Explore this opening | Search for sacrifices in this opening.

PRACTITIONERS

With the White Pieces

With the Black Pieces

Piotr Widla		3 games

NOTABLE GAMES [what is this?]

White Wins

Black Wins

Smyslov vs Bronstein, 1951

Smyslov vs Geller, 1951

P Mutesi vs Mustafa Mansour Zienab, 2014

A Neumann vs H Caro, 1905

T F Lawrence vs A Fox, 1904

S A Languidey vs E Matsuura, 2018

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page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 39

Game		Result	Moves	Year	Event/Locale	Opening
1. S Rosenthal vs A Clerc		1-0	59	1881	1st French National, Paris 1880/81	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
2. G Bellingham vs H Voigt		½-½	51	1901	6th Anglo-American Cable Match	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
3. Mason vs von Popiel		½-½	36	1902	13th DSB Congress, Hanover	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
4. Duras vs M Lange		1-0	31	1903	31st DCA Congress, Hilversum	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
5. Salwe vs W K von Stamm		1-0	36	1903	3rd All-Russian Masters, Kiev	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
6. Schiffers vs M Lowcki		½-½	51	1903	3rd All-Russian Masters, Kiev	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
7. T F Lawrence vs A Fox		0-1	26	1904	Cambridge Springs	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
8. A Neumann vs H Caro		0-1	70	1905	Barmen Meisterturnier B	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
9. J Balogh vs L Merenyi		½-½	24	1935	Tatatovaros	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
10. J Fichtl vs K Prucha		0-1	54	1943	Zlin	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
11. Kostic vs M Germek		½-½	26	1949	Yugoslav Championship	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
12. A I Konstantinov vs Petrosian		½-½	39	1951	URS-ch sf Sverdlovsk	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
13. A I Konstantinov vs I Veltmander		0-1	34	1951	URS-ch sf Sverdlovsk	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
14. Smyslov vs Geller		1-0	48	1951	USSR Championship	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
15. Smyslov vs Bronstein		1-0	39	1951	USSR Championship	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
16. A Bannik vs M Pasman		½-½	40	1952	URS-ch sf Riga	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
17. J M Taylor vs P Vaitonis		0-1	30	1953	Canadian Championship	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
18. K Blagojevic vs V Borisenko		½-½	20	1962	Soviet Union - Yugoslavia	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
19. M Benoit vs L Belliard Alonzo		½-½	34	1969	World Student Team Championship Final-C	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
20. K Pedersen vs Sax		1-0	35	1972	Skopje Olympiad Final-A	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
21. Korchnoi vs Huebner		0-1	62	1989	Barcelona World Cup	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
22. A Moskalik vs A Maksimenko		0-1	32	1993	Katowice Fibak Open	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
23. A Moskalik vs V Dydyshko		0-1	27	1993	Katowice Fibak Open	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
24. D Vargic vs S Sale		0-1	54	1995	CRO-chT	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
25. Ljubojevic vs J Polgar		0-1	57	1995	Melody Amber Rapid 4th	B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3


page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 39

REFINE SEARCH: White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)

Jul-03-04		acirce: It is a pretty reasonable opening if you want to avoid the mainline Sicilian. You can't trust those statistics, they can be flawed for so many different reasons.

Jul-03-04		Zenchess: I used to like White in this line, but now I like Black. He lets White play Bh6 and grab h7 while he castles Q and gets counterplay on d4. Some of my opponents won't even grab the P 'cause they don't like Black's compensation.

Dec-22-04		drukenknight: Hey I finally win a closed sicilian, this ECO code was the closest I could find. No fianchettos, but the B did go to e3: 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 (I decide to start w/ the QN after watching Nakamura do it this way) 2... Nc6 3. d3 d6 4. f4 (leaves book here, there were some corr. games in the 1970s that have something similar w/ Be3 but no f4) 4.... Nf6 5. Be3 Bg4 6. Be2 Bxe2 7. Qxe2 e6 8. Nf3 Be7 9. e5 dxe5 10. fxe5 Nd5 11. Ne4 Nxe3 12. Qxe3 O-O 13. g4 h6 (apparently …Bg5 would have helped a lot, either here or a few moves later, also ...Qa5 is useful in certain lines) 14. O-O-O Nd4 15. Nfd2 f6 16. exf6 Bxf6 17. c3 Nc6 18. h4 Ne5 19. g5 Qxd3 20. Qxc5 Qd5 21. Qe3 hxg5 22. hxg5 Be7 23. Qh3 Qxa2 24. Qh8+ Kf7 25. Rdf1+ Ke8 26. Qxg7 Qa1+ 27. Kc2 Qa4+ 28. Kb1 Nd7 29. Qg6+ Kd8 30. Qxe6 and it just gets worse, 1-0.

Mar-16-06		Knight13: White wins 24.4% Black wins 40.7% So that means this opening is bad for White?

Feb-16-07		ChessDude33: <Knight13> I know this is a long off response but you should probably take a look at acirce's post at the top^

Dec-01-07		notyetagm: <Knight13: White wins 24.4% Black wins 40.7% So that means this opening is bad for White?> No, it means that weaker White players tends to play it against stronger Black Sicilian players to avoid their preparation in the main lines. Do you really want to face someone rated 300 points above you and let them play their favorite Open Sicilian (Najdorf, Sveshnikov, Dragon, etc.) against you?

Dec-01-07		ongyj: I quite like this setup for White, with the only exception of 6.Be3. I know that it has the typical idea of doubling with Qd2, and after 0-0-0 (and Black goes ...0-0), Bh6, trade and play on the h-file. Often I find the allowance for Black's ...Nd4 outpost(and occasionally, the ...Ng4 kick) too much a concession. I prefer to make a "waste move" setup with b3 and Bb2, also avoiding the possibility of the "accelerated ...Qb6" that hits White's b pawn. Following which Knight on g1 belongs to e2 so that White can play f4 to cover a Bh6 pin (if White queen goes to d2). This somewhat allows White to consider castling either side[Though Queenside is usually better looking, if not intimidating.] How would you think of the "Queen Pawn style" setup I try to describe above? [I don't know how to post positions. Pathetic=(]Thanks in advance for all comments and criticisms.

Dec-01-07		notyetagm: <ongyj: ... [I don't know how to post positions. Pathetic=(]> You simply post the <FEN> string of the position you want. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FEN explains what <FEN> is. Then you simply use a chess software tool that will allow you to create the <FEN> string from your chess position. Nearly all chess programs have this feature. For example, I tend to use the <WINBOARD> program to examine PGNs. I open a PGN with <WINBOARD>, then under the <FILE> menu, I select "Copy Position To Clipboard". This command puts the <FEN> into the Windows Clipboard. Then using the Windows paste command (CTRL-V) will place the <FEN> into the Chessgames.com Kibitz box. Chessgames.com software then automatically converts the <FEN> string into the chess diagrams you see all over the site.

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