*FIRST EVER* All 187 Sicilians Ranked (Tier List) 

Accepting all friend requests on Chess Titans under the name Volclus, you can find the game here: chesstitans.onelink.me/txnt/VolclusYT01

Absolute perfection... Next, rank every single legal first move on the board to continue the tier lists

Imagine looking at the analysis after the game and seeing that your opponent blundering his knight was actually theory in the Yates variation.

*I like how you covered white and black variations, wish you separated them so we could see easily, also you could separate which variations stem from non E4 openings*

I’m proud to say I have been a volclus fan since 2k subs your videos are so helpful and your guides are absolutely amazing and your content is just getting better and better, keep it up!

17:46 53:33 #157 and #94 are ranked very differently even though they're the same variation lol

Timestamps -- it probably has a lot of errors because I didn't proof-read it, so sorry in advance, and lmk if there is an error!! ____________________________ F tier 1:02 #187 King David's Opening 1:42 #186 Yates Variation 2:20 #185 Frederico Variation 3:03 #184 Polish Gambit 3:33 #183 Amazon Attack 3:52 #182 Jalalabad Variation 4:16 #181 Mongoose Variation 4:41 #180 Kotov Gambit 5:17 #179 Grob Variation 5:32 #178 Double-Dutch Gambit 6:31 #177 Brooklyn Retreat Variation 7:04 #176 Brick Variation 7:11 #175 Santasiere Variation 7:51 #174 Brussels Gambit 8:28 #173 Nemeth Gambit 9:00 #172 Myers Attack with h4 9:22 #171 Myers Attack with a4 9:39 #170 Grob Attack 10:03 #169 Franco Sicilian Variation 11:03 #168 Bucker Variation 11:19 #167 Sherzer Variation 12:20 #166 Coles Sicilian Gambit 13:21 #165 Zaitzev Defense 14:02 #164 Marshall Gambit 14:14 #163 Retreat Variation 15:21 #162 Acton Variation 15:37 #161 Spielmann Variation 16:07 #160 Nimzo-American Variation D tier 16:45 #159 Kronberger Variation 16:56 #158 Schlechter Variation 17:28 #157 Sozin Attack 18:13 #156 San Francisco 18:40 #155 Katalimov Variation 18:53 #154 Kopec System 19:16 #153 Quiet System 19:31 #152 Byrne Variation 20:21 #151 Marshall Counterattack 20:52 #150 Barmen Exchange 21:45 #149 Kan, Hedgehog Variation 22:25 #148 Swiss Cheese Variation 22:47 #147 Zollner Gambit 23:33 #146 Louma Variation 24:15 #145 Abrahams Gambit 24:35 #144 Halasz Gambit 25:00 #143 Bowdler Attack 25:23 #142 Accelerated Dragon, Exchange Variation 25:55 #141 Vitolins Variation 26:24 #140 McDonell Attack 26:55 #139 Heidenfeld Variation 27:25 #138 Keres Variation 27:36 #137 Lasker-Dunne Attack 27:48 #136 Chekhover Variation 28:16 #135 Four Knights Exchange 28:48 #134 Flohr Variation 29:13 #133 Simagin Variation 29:55 #132 Big Clamp Formation 30:18 #131 Cortlever Gambit 30:56 #130 Kieseritzky System C tier 31:16 #129 Hyperaccelerated Pterodactyl, Exchange Variation 32:02 #128 Wing, Marshall Gambit 32:41 #127 Kramnik Variation 33:11 #126 Wing, Marienbad Gambit 33:43 #125 Bernard Variation 34:13 #124 Stockholm Attack 34:38 #123 Kupreichik Variation 35:04 #122 Ivanov Variation 35:47 #121 Aronin System 36:08 #120 Dekker Gambit 36:41 #119 Dorfman Gambit 37:23 #118 Drazic Variation 37:48 #117 Staunton-Cochrane Variation 38:16 #116 Kharlov-Kramnik Variation 39:04 #115 Dragon, Maroczy Variation 39:47 #114 Gloria Variation 40:22 #113 Snyder Variation 40:45 #112 Richter-Rauzer, Dragon Variation 41:40 #111 Westerinen Attack 42:04 #110 Prins Gambit 42:44 #109 Alapin, Qxd4 Variation 43:40 #108 American Attack 44:25 #107 Carlsbad Variation 45:03 #106 O'Kelly Variation 45:26 #105 Dragon, Fianchetto Variation 46:01 #104 Wing Gambit 46:29 #103 Soltis Variation 46:55 #102 Ginsberg Gambit 48:03 #101 Gurgenidze Variation B tier 48:44 #100 Levenfish Variation 49:44 #99 Grigoriev Variation 50:26 #98 Bird Variation 51:14 #97 O'Kelly, Wing Gambit 51:26 #96 Goteborg Variation 52:36 #95 Gipsils Variation 53:18 #94 Sozin Attack 54:03 #93 Gufeld Gambit 54:53 #92 Zagreb Variation 55:24 #91 Lutikov Gambit 56:11 #90 Breyer Variation 57:15 #89 Baulsen-Basman Defense 57:54 #88 Rossolimo, Gurgenidze Variation 58:43 #87 Lasker-Pelikan Variation 59:31 #86 Quinteros Variation 59:57 #85 Szen Variation 1:00:28 #84 Classical, Fianchetto Variation 1:01:06 #83 Sokolsky Variation 1:01:47 #82 Stoltz Attack 1:02:25 #81 Sveshnikov Attack 1:03:15 #80 Mengarini Variation 1:03:51 #79 Polugaevsky Variation 1:04:26 #78 Korchnoi Defense 1:04:53 #77 Nimzoswitsch Variation 1:05:18 #76 Najdorf, Amsterdam Variation 1:06:03 #75 Sosonko Variation 1:06:44 #74 Closed, Fianchetto Variation 1:07:02 #73 Barmen, Modern Line 1:07:36 #72 Lowenthal Variation 1:08:16 #71 Boleslavsky Variation A tier 1:08:43 #70 Hyperaccelerated Pterodactyl 1:09:26 #69 Chameleon Variation 1:09:57 #68 Godiva Variation 1:10:29 #67 Four Knights Variation 1:10:46 #66 Kan, Modern Defense 1:11:14 #65 Koch Variation 1:11:51 #64 Matanovic Attack 1:12:22 #63 Barmen Defense 1:12:49 #62 Anti-English, Najdorf 1:13:37 #61 Dragon, Spielmann Variation 1:14:30 #60 Prins Variation 1:15:07 #59 Dragon, Classical Variation 1:15:40 #58 Kveinis Variation 1:16:25 #57 Morphy Gambit 1:16:48 #56 Hyperaccelerated Dragon 1:17:18 #55 Adreaschek Gambit 1:18:03 #54 Czerniak Variation 1:18:53 #53 Velimirovic Attack 1:19:38 #52 Richter-Rauzer Variation 1:20:03 #51 Kalashnikov Variation 1:20:51 #50 Pin Variation 1:21:33 #49 Cobra Variation 1:22:29 #48 Dragon, Amsterdam Variation 1:23:16 #47 Accelerated Dragon, Modern Bc4 Variation 1:24:15 #46 Morra Gambit 1:24:54 #45 Haag Gambit 1:25:40 #44 Accelerated Dragon 1:26:19 #43 Browne Variation 1:27:03 #42 Kan, Fianchetto Variation 1:27:28 #41 Taimainov Variation S tier 1:28:14 #40 Ivanchuk Variation 1:28:56 #39 Perenyi Gambit 1:30:06 #38 Bronstein Variation 1:31:04 #37 Basman-Palatnik Double Gambit 1:32:35 #36 Peresypkin's Sacrifice 1:33:28 #35 Chicago Defense 1:34:15 #34 Panov Attack 1:35:01 #33 Portsmouth Gambit 1:35:43 #32 Dragon, Modern Bc4 1:36:26 #31 Alapin, Nf6 Variation 1:36:58 #30 Adams Attack 1:37:50 #29 Jaffe Variation 1:38:46 #28 Barmen, Milner-Barry Attack 1:40:07 #27 Venice Attack 1:41:20 #26 Moscow Gambit 1:42:43 #25 Rossolimo Attack 1:43:12 #24 Gaw-Paw Variation 1:44:07 #23 Alapin Variation 1:45:01 #22 French Variation 1:45:26 #21 Totsky Attack 1:46:49 #20 Freak Attack 1:47:55 #19 Maroczy-Bind Variation 1:48:45 #18 Moscow Variation 1:49:34 #17 Smyslov Variation 1:50:43 #16 Mengarini Gambit S+ Tier 1:51:39 #15 Keres Attack 1:52:35 #14 Najdorf, Poisoned Pawn Variation 1:53:45 #13 Smith-Morra Gambit 1:54:22 #12 Tal Gambit 1:55:23 #11 Scheveningen 1:55:58 #10 Classical Variation 1:56:31 #9 Grand Prix Attack 1:57:07 #8 Anti-Sozin Variation 1:58:17 #7 Kan, Knight Variation, Wing Attack 1:59:21 #6 Closed Sicilian 1:59:49 #5 Schofman Variation 2:01:04 #4 Yugoslav Attack 2:01:43 #3 Kan Variation 2:02:29 #2 Dragon Variation 2:03:23 #1 Najdorf Variation thank

6:46 “i have nothing against the people of brooklyn, but if you live there, youre extremely dumb” 💀

Yours is a great video, as always. And I play the Sicilian Kan, I'm very happy that you put her so high in the ranking. However, the true move sequence of the Kan is 1...c5, 2...e6, 3...a6, 4...Qc7. In your variant obviously the same positions are often reached with the same attack ideas, but 4...Qc7 is a fundamental move, since unlike many other variations in the Sicilian, it completely prevents the English attack (or if the white tries anyway, he can find himself lost within 10-15 moves.Nice video, keep it up

Underrated channel. You have uploaded gem videos in last few months.

50:29 is the highlight

I am gonna say this is one of the best channels for free and amazing chess content.

Would love a more in-depth look at your top few favorites. Also, PLEASE cover the Hartlaub-Charlick gambit at some point! Very hard to find resources for.

0:43 To my mind the best chess variant is hexagonal Chess. Who needs new pieces, if you can add a whole new dimension to the existing pieces. Although in hexagonal Chess there are 3 bishops, because there are 3 colors on the board.

Finally, Sicilian Theory in one video!

32:33 there's actually an interesting and rare recommendation in the wing Marshall from a NM RU-vidr that I watch. if they take on a3 you can surprise them by taking back with the rook and once they take and you take back with the bishop, that bishop is so powerful and unopposed that white's advantage is only 0.6. Theres a rather old video of a brilliant game that he won out of this continuation which I found cool. His channel is Chess Vibes.

The leverfish Variation is my fabourite variant XD

Dude, you're a madman!

50:10 Nd4 is not the main move against the Grigoriev. Black can instead play Ng4 so that white is forced to concede the bishop pair

lovely video, i would love a ranking all ruy lopez's

W Chess Content W Hardwork W Volclus W Subs

Why is the 2. Be2 line, introduced in 2015, not on the list? It is played with the idea of f4, Nf3, d3, and 0-0, and finally Qe1-h4, and is certainly more common than 2. Ke2.

1:28:00 Taimanov sicilian is my favorite, as far as I know though the move after 5. Nc3 is 5.. Qc7 not 5.. Bb4 since that’s pretty commital with the dark squared bishop. It’s a great opening as it’s a more positional/solid sicilian but still offers the fighting chances you’re looking for when playing the sicilian. Plus it has way less theory than most and works amazingly against the anti sicilians pretty much intuitively. S-tier imo, but great video!

Truly a masterpiece

Nothing is better than a Volclus notification.

Bro what about the shvesnikov am i blind or did you forget it

You are sleeping on the kopec system

You're a beast!

Please rank all the million of variations and transpositions of the modern defence PLEASE :)

This is what I needed 😂

#81 Sveshnikov Attack. Correction:Sveshinikov Defense or Counterattack. Because we're playing as Black. Black doesn't attack in the opening.Black either counterattack or defend.

Since you mentioned so many variations of the Dragon I think you should have mentioned the Chinese Dragon-variation which will appeal to an attacking-player like you.....And me... ;)

I think you missed the 3...d5 4. exd5 Nf6 variation against the Alapin. White needs to know theory to get an advantage and even then it's not that bad for black

Did you fr rank sveshnikov (aka Magnus' main weapon against e4 in the world-championship-match 2018) #87 ?

You got Sozin attack quite wrong. After you drop back to b3, one of your main plans is to castle, push f4, play qf3 and try to go for f5 and attack on the kingside. If you know what you're doing it could be an easy A tier. Just check Fischer's games with it.

Im 1500 and I never play Sicilian and hate playing against it I go for open Sicilian, because it's most similar to what I usually play, although not quite.

Damn you are underrated

Actually kronberger variation which that plays Ka3 its not too bad i dont prefer but there are some ideas. at the same time this variation played by Carlsen, Nepomniachthi, Svidler You can see in lichess. :) Perfect list, Perfect video.

The Bowdler should be higher up on the list. I won many games using it.

How do you even find these variations? Theres so many obscure bad sicilians. Anyways good collection, I can show this to someone the next time I say I don't want to play against the sicilian.

Nice, I love Kan sicilian

you should rank the variants of other openings!

i think you should make more videos like the video about 17 way of conevrsion it helped me a lot as a 2000

Where is the "Magnus Sicilian" (1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Qd2 Nf6 6. b3 etc.)?

"98, I have the bird variation. Kaw Kaw" - Volclus, 2024.

Maybe do a defence tier list

Incredible.

could you do all queens gambit variations

glad to see a tier list from someone who absolutely has no idea what hes talking about

Congratulations on making a 2 hours video. Can you rank Chess Players? Can you talk about the Alien Gambit? I really enjoy your videos bro.

I'm at around 2k otb and honestly I think the dragon isn't that good, I tried learning it but at the end of the day, black is the one that normally has to be careful and white's play is more intuitive

my dumbass thought it was "nightorf"

You are the best🎉

I know you will never see this but thank you for the book.

Najdorf is the best! I was expecting it to be!

@willtaylorchess is not gonna like mengarini at 80

50:29 he really puts the bird on the variation😢

I only disagree with the taimonov spot. I think it’s easily S tier especially if you know the proper set ips

22:03

"Now we have the Bird variation CaW! cAW!" Tf you on💀

O'kelly #106????????? Pretty sure this is the highest scoring variation at club and master level. Maybe it's slightly less good than the najdorf or something per the computer but practically speaking this has got to be top ten and the most underrated attempt for black. It's also my main defense against 1.e4

Amazing effort to produce this 2 hour video! Please do learn how to pronounce "Scheveningen" and Smyslov

#72 is quite wrong. The lowenthal is after the move Nb5 and black plays a6

do any one have a list for these variations?

4:18 A Mongoose

I play the hyper accelerated dragon. Why it is rated so low compared to dragon sicilian. Should I consider switching to sicilian dragon?

where do you even find all these variations

Do Italian

W chess content

I play the hyper accelerated dragon, should I consider switching to dragon sicilian?

You forgot Mafia Defense

Did you forget the toilet variation

Thank you very much for your efforts, but 187 is too many and many of them are unplayable. Is it possible to reduce them to the most important ones that are playable almost all the time.

Please rate best english openings❤❤

The Coles Sicilian is supposed to be Qe3 instead of Qd1 and it works fine but that specific variation is trash. The gambit is trash

50:22 How is this a boring position exactly? Opposite sides castling means both players will attack eachother. This guy has no idea what he's talking about

Yoo where Kalashnikov??

Volclus, how to become a member?

I disagree with 1:28:12 it is not a beginner opening

And of course it has to be 187 😅

no way you put the chicago defense in S tier...

hi

So you chose death

Sozin D tier wtf

Лол, серьезно, Свешникова только на 81? Это ведь один из основных вариантов. Плюс учить там намного меньше надо, чем в Найдорфе.

instead of giving it all at once why not make it like a series and post the videos every week on autopilot... mabby next time? Nevertheless i do like your videos!

mengarini is the best 😂

Menace.