The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the moves: 1. e4 c5 At the master level and above, the Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4. "Indeed, most statistical surveys suggest that 1.d4 is the most successful first move for White, but only because 1...c5! scores so highly against 1.e4." Indeed, New in Chess stated in its 2000 Yearbook that of the games in its database, White scored 56.1% in 296,200 games beginning 1.d4, but a full two percent lower (54.1%) in 349,855 games beginning 1.e4. "The main culprit responsible for this state of affairs" was the Sicilian, which held White to a paltry 52.3% score in 145,996 games. One sixth (17%) of all games between grandmasters, and one quarter (25%) of the games in the Chess Informant da