P.P.S: Actually, just following The Killer Sicilian is an attractive option as well; it's not like Tony's Kalashnikov lines are knife-edge memory contests for the most part. Though still a bit more theory than these lesser-known sidelines involve.

@ErictheRed No decisions yet, I was busy last night trying to decide if I'm really happy against the most dangerous Anti-Sicilians given 2...Nc6 (I think I am).

The ...h6 line seems a very decent alternative to the Löwenthal. I actually found some coverage of it here http://www.chesscafe.com/text/kaiss22.pdf by a certain Stefan Bücker! See section 3. The Haberditz Variation. And the Reinderman SOS article from 2004 he refers to must be the one I've seen before; I should be able to dig that one up.

It seems a good idea to have both the Löwenthal and the Haberditz available; they are strategically very similar, all the "Antis" are the same, and even if White ultimately gets some advantage against both, it makes me less predictable.

kylemeister wrote on 07/31/14 at 00:16:48:


I think that 9...Rb8! in your first line is equal, or very near to it.

I'm not quite sure about the second line.  It seems that White must be better with the two bishops and Black's backward d-pawn, but things are never entirely simple in these types of Sicilians.  Okay, I wouldn't want to play Black against Karpov there, but it's hard to prove anything substantial and Black can improve the position of his pieces, rooks, launch a minority attack on the queenside, etc.  That might be White's best try, though.

In any case I'm not here to claim 100% equality for Black or anything, but I do think that this is better than the Lowenthal.

P.s. Look up the games of user "Kawas" on ICC for some good study material here.

On a historical note, I recall that Spassky once supposedly struck a serious blow against this line vs. Gheorghiu, with 9. Nb5 Qxd6 10. Nxd6+ Ke7 11. Nf5+ Kf8 12. b3.  I see that in recent times Black has come up with 9...Rb8.

Another "old book line" which has been claimed to be better for White is 9. Qxe7+ Kxe7 10. Be3 followed by f3 and 0-0-0.

Thanks all for your comments! I have been swamped with work today, but I really appreciate the help.

@TN: I certainly will look at both the online Illingworth survey and Yearbook 108, might even buy the yearbook just for this. How many pages does that particular survey span?

I'm aware of both the Accelerated Dragon and the Kan as options. In fact the AD is my second choice for this purpose at the moment; it is more theoretical, but on the plus side I already have some experience with it. And 2...g6 as an anti-Rossolimo move order is definitely a plus.

On the other hand, I don't feel the Kan fits the bill. 10 or 5 years ago you could play the Kan and expect White to be rather clueless, but today there is lots of sharp theory, and White players are better prepared, no doubt thanks to the repertoire books by Khalifman, the QC team and De la Villa, not to mention ChessPublishing! So I think of the Kan more as an unbalancing winning attempt (and may play it for that purpose if I expect my opponent not to be up-to-date on the theory). My main aim in this thread, on the other hand, is to find something really solid to throw at attacking maniacs  Defending against these aggressive types has been a clear weakness in my play lately. So maybe it's precisely a "Petroff of the Sicilian" that's needed! I don't think I could bring myself to play the actual Petroff, I have a distaste for any sort of symmetry in chess openings...

Btw. the so-called "Grivas Sicilian" is a third solid option I've considered, and I acquired Grivas' book on it a couple of weeks ago, but I expect it requires deep, thematic understanding of Scheveningen-type positions to play it successfully. So despite being low on theory, it may not really be a quick fix either.

@ErictheRed: I know absolutely nothing about this ...h6 line; would you say it's as sound as the Löwenthal? I have a vague recollection of seeing a survey of a Sicilian with ...h6 in one of the S.O.S. books, but that may have been ...h6 even earlier.

Another alternative for a low maintenance surprise weapon could be an idea from Paulsen (1.e4 c5 2.Sf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Sxd4 Lc5)

Sizilianisch für Müßiggänger by IM Valeri Bronznik
IM Sale wrote about it in New in Chess Yearbook 45

ErictheRed wrote on 07/30/14 at 01:24:08:

I checked David Vigorito's video series for chesslecture on the Lowenthal Sicilian, and it seems he focuses on 7...Qf6.  There is only a brief mention of the position mentioned by Eric-the-Red.  i.e.,
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 h6 7.Nd6+ Bxd6 8.Qxd6 Qe7

Hello,

I've been looking for a solid, "quick fix" Sicilian I can add to my repertoire quickly, and thought of the Löwenthal.

I know there is good coverage in, for example the DW: Sicilians book, here on ChessPublishing and the Pinski/Aagaard Kalashnikov book, but it's all very much focused on the sharper 7...Qf6. So does anybody know of any good sources for 7...Qe7 out there?

For reference: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 a6 6.Nd6+ Bxd6 7.Qxd6 Qe7.