Sicilian Defense
The Sicilian defence is one of the famous defences against the white’s 1.e4, in which black will reply with 1… c5. The Sicilian Defence is popular among the grandmasters because of the opening’s combative nature. Chess Grandmasters such as Garry Kasparov, Bobby Fisher and Viswanathan Anand have been known to use the Sicilian opening. There are several other variations of the Sicilian Defence such as:
- Najdorf Variation
- Classical Variation
- Scheveningen Variation
- Dragon Variation
- Sveshnikov Variation
- Accelerated Dragon
- Taimanov Variation
- Kalashnikov Variation
- Four Knights Variation
- Kan Variation
The most common among these variations are the Sicilian Dragon, Sicilian Najdorf and the Sicilian Classical Variation. The advantage of this defence is that although white has initial advantage, black is fighting back by asserting his control on the centre squares that are vital to winning a chess game. The game is not passive and the black pieces will combat head-to-head with the white pieces for control on the centre squares.
Sicilian Dragon
The Sicilian Dragon is one of the main variations of the Sicilian opening and one of the sharpest of all chess openings. The opening was named as the Dragon variation because of its pawn structure resemblance to the constellation Draco. The Sicilian dragon is characterized by the following moves:
1) e4 c5
2) Nf3 d6
3) d4 cxd4
4) Nxd4 Nf6
5) Nc3 g6
The opening is advantageous for a novice player because there are several variations on this opening and, possibly, not all openings and variations have been fully studied by other novice chess players. You will have the opportunity to capitalize on your opponent mistakes and seize an opportunity to win.
The idea here is to study this variation, learn its several pitfalls and you are on your way in beating your fellow novice players. Well-known chess players such as Garry Kasparov, Veselin Topalov and Sergei Tiviakov had been known to employ this opening.
There are several books published for the Sicilian Dragon opening which will help you learn the opening. Some of them are the following:
- • Secrets Of The Sicilian Dragon by Eduard Gufeld
- • Play the Sicilian Dragon by Eddie Dearing
- • Starting Out: The Sicilian Dragon by Martin
- • Easy Guide to the Dragon by Mikhail Golubev
Najdorf
The Sicilian Najdorf variation is one of the complex chess openings there is. It is named after the famous Grandmaster Miguel Najdorf.
Since this opening is one of the complex openings in chess, there is a possibility that your opponents are not familiar with the opening as well. You can easily beat your opponent if you have mastered this variation already. However, it will require you much time in learning the opening since you will have to consider the different pitfalls of the opening. This Sicilian variation is characterized by the following moves:
1) e4 c5
2) Nf3 d6
3) d4 cxd4
4) Nxd4 Nf6
5) Nc3 a6
Here are some books for the Sicilian Najdorf that you can use in your research and study:
- • Play the Najdorf: Scheveningen Style by Emms
- • Mastering the Najdorf by Arizmendi
- • Easy guide to Najdorf by Kosten
Here are also some DVDs dedicated to the Najdorf variation that can also be useful for you:
• Best Games in the Sicilian Najdorf by Alexei Shirov - This DVD covers the following topics:
- Intro ( Running time: 01:58)
- Najdorf with 6.Be2 ( Running time: 29:56)
- Najdorf 6.Be3 Ng4 1 ( Running time: 21:52)
- Najdorf 6.Be3 Ng4 2 ( Running time: 15:09)
- Scheveningen System ( Running time: 45:45)
- Keres Attack 1 ( Running time: 14:03)
- Keres Attack 2 ( Running time: 20:45)
- Keres Attack 3 ( Running time: 23:01)
- Keres Attack 4 ( Running time: 29:46)
This DVD present’s GM Shirov’s best games on the Najdorf variation where he annotates and explains the ideas of each and every important move that he made.
• Mr. Kasparov: How to Play the Najdorf by Garry Kasparov - These 2 DVDs are recommended to those who wish to know a lot about the Sicilian Najdorf variation.
Classical (200)
Another Sicilian variation is the classical that is accomplished by the following moves:
1) e4 c5
2) Nf3 d6
3) d4 cxd4
4) Nxd4 Nf6
5) Nc3 Nc6
Or yet another series of moves:
1) e4 c5
2) Nf3 Nc6
3) d4 cxd4
4) Nxd4 Nf6
5) Nc3 d6
This opening is the most common of all Sicilian Defences. Novice players can easily learn the theory behind the opening. The opening causes the king’s side pawns to be weakened. But the black’s centre pawns are much solid and useful that could give positional advantage to the black pieces. This variation can transpose to different variations as well. The Classical variation can be transposed to the Scheveningen Variation after 6) Bc4 e6, Classical Variation of the Dragon after the moves 6) Bc4 g6 or to the solid Boleslavsky Variation after 6) Bc4 e5.
Here are some recommended books and DVDs that tackles about the Classical Sicilian variation:
- • Chess Explained: The Classical Sicilian by Alex Yermolinsky
- • Starting Out: Classical Sicilian” by Alexander Raetsky and Maxim Chetverik
- • Classical Sicilian (B56-B59) Op Training (CD) by GM Anthony Kosten