About this opening
Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted, Finegold Defense is an opening in the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings,
classified under code B21. ECO group B (B00–B99)
covers semi-open games (1.e4 with Black playing anything other than 1…e5), with the Sicilian, French, Caro-Kann and Pirc/Modern at its heart. This particular variation is reached
after 16 half-moves from the
starting position, with the move sequence 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 e6 5. Nf3 d6 6. Bc4 a6 7. O-O Be7 8. Qe2 Nf6.
It belongs to the Sicilian Defense family.
Within that family this is a level-2 branch (the Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted → Finegold Defense line). The immediate parent line is Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted, transitioned via 8…Nf6.
The opening sequence in prose form: 1.e4 c5, 2.d4 cxd4, 3.c3 dxc3, 4.Nxc3 e6, 5.Nf3 d6, 6.Bc4 a6. From this position the encyclopaedia records no further canonical continuations — practical play branches into unnamed transpositions or returns to the parent line for alternative ideas.
Use the interactive board above to walk through the moves position-by-position. Click any move in the navigation to step backwards, or use the keyboard arrow keys. For statistical data — how often master-level players have reached this position, White's win-rate, draw frequency, Black's score — see the panel in the right column.
Caissly's coverage of B21 extends through every named sub-variation in this line and across all four locales (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian). Where editorial commentary exists for a specific variation it appears as the page body; otherwise the page presents the structural data, board, and statistics as shown here.