About this opening
Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted, Taimanov Formation 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 12 half-moves from the
starting position, with the move sequence 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 e6 5. Bc4 a6 6. Nf3 Ne7.
It belongs to the Sicilian Defense family.
Within that family this is a level-2 branch (the Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted → Taimanov Formation line). The immediate parent line is Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted, transitioned via 6…Ne7.
The opening sequence in prose form: 1.e4 c5, 2.d4 cxd4, 3.c3 dxc3, 4.Nxc3 e6, 5.Bc4 a6, 6.Nf3 Ne7. 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.