How to Play the Sicilian Defense: Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack, Fianchetto Variation — N

The star of this variation for Black is your fianchettoed bishop on g7. After 4.Nc3 Bg7, you have committed to a kingside fianchetto against the Rossolimo, which means you will often challenge the centre with moves like ...d6 or ...e6, then strike with ...b6 and ...Bb7 or play ...Nd4 to disrupt White's setup. Your dark-squared bishop owns the long diagonal and will become a monster once central pawns are traded. White's main ideas involve castling kingside, playing d3 or d4, and trying to blunt your bishop with a pawn on e5 or by exchanging on c6. Notice that among the most-played continuations from this position, Bxc6 (140,825 games) and d3 (86,867 games) are popular — both aim to reduce the activity of your fianchetto before it becomes too powerful.

Stockfish's top move here is 5.O-O. The best-played continuation runs 5.O-O Nd4 6.Bc4 a6 — Black immediately challenges the bishop and centralises a knight. This is a principled response: the knight on d4 is annoying for White, threatening ...Nxf3+ and often forcing a concession. After 6.Bc4 a6, you are preparing ...b5 to gain space on the queenside and chase the bishop further. Your position is harmonious: king already safe in the fianchetto structure, easy development with ...d6 and ...e6, and clear plans on both sides of the board. The engine says this is perfectly equal — if you play these natural moves, you cannot be worse.

The statistics from over 360,000 games reveal something important: Black scores 50.8% from this exact position, which is above average for a second-player opening. White's best-scoring move is O-O (46.7% for White), but even then Black still comes out ahead overall. The moves that score worst for White are d4 (33.6% White wins) and Nd5 (39.1% White wins) — both are labelled as mistakes by the engine. This tells you that many White players mishandle this position. If your opponent plays a less accurate move like 5.d4 or 5.Nd5, you can seize an immediate advantage. Knowing that d4 loses roughly 1.9 pawns of equity and that both b3 and Nd5 lose about 0.6 pawns gives you confidence to punish inaccuracies.

The engine helpfully flags three suboptimal moves for White in this position. Here is what to do when you see them: - 5.d4 (mistake): This loses about 1.9 pawns. White tries to seize the centre early, but after ...cxd4 6.Nxd4 Nxd4 7.Qxd4, you can play ...d6 or ...Nf6 with a comfortable game. Your fianchettoed bishop eyes the long diagonal, and White's queen on d4 is a target. - 5.b3 (inaccuracy): Costs White roughly 0.6 pawns. White prepares Bb2 to counter your fianchetto. Simply continue developing: ...d6, ...Nf6, and prepare ...O-O. White's queenside play is a bit slow. - 5.Nd5 (inaccuracy): Also loses about 0.6 pawns. This early knight sortie looks aggressive, but after ...d6 (threatening ...Bg4 or ...Nf6), White's knight may have to retreat. You can also consider ...Nce7 to kick it immediately. In every case, stick to solid development and don't fear the ghost.