The Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Dunne Attack with g6 – Playing as White

After 1.e4 c5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2, the engine evaluates the position at +0.04 — that is essentially equal. Neither colour has a tangible advantage out of the opening. This means you are not fighting to refute Black's setup; you are steering toward a position where your understanding of the middlegame matters more than sharp opening theory. White aims for flexible development: the king can castle quickly, the light-squared bishop bears down on the long diagonal, and you can choose between an early d4 (opening the centre) or a slower build-up with Ne2, O-O, and d3. Black's most common reply, by a huge margin, is 3...Bg7, which mirrors your fianchetto and leads to a symmetrical-looking but dynamically rich struggle.

Stockfish's top choice for Black is 3...Bg7. After that, the engine recommends 4.Ne2 Nc6 5.O-O as the ideal development scheme. Notice White's set-up: the knight goes to e2 rather than c3, keeping the c-pawn free to advance later. Castling early is safe because the centre is not immediately threatened. From here, typical plans include playing d4 (after preparing with c3 or directly) to challenge Black's centre, or expanding on the kingside with f4. The beauty of this line is that Black must prove they know how to handle the resulting positions — many opponents expect a tactical Sicilian and get an offbeat strategic game instead.

Over 60,000 games have reached this exact position in the Lichess database, making it a well-tested line. The results are remarkably balanced: White wins 47.4%, draws 4.2%, and Black wins 48.4%. That small edge for Black in winning percentage is within natural variance at this level — your results will depend on who understands the resulting structures better. Looking at the most-played replies: - 3...Bg7 (53,531 games) is the main line, where White scores 47.1%. - 3...Nc6 (4,047 games) scores slightly better for White at 47.9%. - 3...d6 (977 games) is a solid alternative where White actually scores over 50% (50.9%). - 3...e5 (664 games) sees White scoring 54.2%, suggesting Black's set-up may be overly ambitious. - 3...e6 (318 games) gives White a strong 52.5%.

The engine flags two inaccuracies Black can make here, and knowing them gives you a concrete weapon. If Black plays 3...Nf6, it loses about 0.6 pawns compared to the correct 3...Bg7. The knight looks active but actually misplaces a defender — White can follow up with d4 or e5 ideas to gain space and time. Even more punishing is 3...e6, which loses roughly 0.9 pawns. Blocking the dark-squared bishop's diagonal makes Black's position passively defensive. In both cases, White's best reply is to seize the centre with 4.d4 or to develop with 4.Ne2 followed by d4, exploiting Black's lost tempo. When Black strays from 3...Bg7, your win rate climbs above 50% — so be ready to punish these inaccuracies.