Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...c5/2. Nf3/2...d6/3. d4/3...cxd4/4. Nxd4/4...Nf6/5. Nc3/5...a6/6. Bg5/6...e6/7. f4/7...Qb6/8. Qd2/8...Qxb2

Poisoned Pawn Variation
a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) rnb1kb1r/1p3ppp/p2ppn2/6B1/3NPP2/2N5/PqPQ2PP/R3KB1R w
Moves: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2

Sicilian Defence, Poisoned Pawn Variation

The famous Poisoned Pawn Variation. Black accepts the pawn. This line after good results from Black, initially Fischer but later Kasparov has seen a decline in popularity of 6.Bg5.

The line was popularized by Bobby Fischer, who in playing this line said that he could grab a pawn, give his opponent three or four moves in development, and still win! Today the line is just as messy as it was in its heyday in the 1970s, but is now considered to be equal with best play. Today there have been lines analyzed up to twenty or thirty moves in depth, such as this one, the main one.

Theory table

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation..

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2

	9	10	11	12	13	14
	Rb1 Qa3	f5 Nc6	fxe6 fxe6	Nxc6 bxc6	e5 dxe5	Ne4 Qxa2	=
	Nb3 Qa3	Bxf6 gxf6	Be2 Nc6	O-O Bd7	Kh1 Rc8	Bh5 Bg7	=

References

de Firmian, Nick. Modern Chess Openings, 15th Edition. New York, NY: Random House, 2008.