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Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) which sicilian to play? (Read 34733 times)
wcywing
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Re: which sicilian to play?
Reply #14 - 01/28/08 at 16:55:26
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i will definatly get that book.  it has chapters on just about every opening complex.
  
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ErictheRed
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Re: which sicilian to play?
Reply #13 - 01/28/08 at 15:39:40
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If you want to play either side of the Open Sicilian, and especially if you want to play the Classical Be2 lines as White, I suggest a very effective and fairly easy study method: read Pawn Structure Chess by Andrew Soltis.  His chapter on the Open Sicilian is excellent, and what you learn from him will last a lifetime.  The rest of the book isn't too bad, either!

Honestly just understanding that chapter will be all the Open Sicilian preparation you'll really need to do until you get to 1700-1800 USCF, in my opinion.
  
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wcywing
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Re: which sicilian to play?
Reply #12 - 01/28/08 at 03:14:49
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at chessbase.com there was a very exciting game between Carlsen and Anaund.  Carlsen lost but it should how dangerous Be2 can be.  i will study that game a lot.
  
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Willempie
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Re: which sicilian to play?
Reply #11 - 01/27/08 at 18:16:38
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woofwoof wrote on 01/27/08 at 14:01:40:
Willempie wrote on 01/27/08 at 00:41:40:
typical tactics in the sicilian.


I take this to mean the thematic sacs?? Rxc3, Bxe6, Bxb5, Nf5, Nd5 and so on?

If so, there are also these 2 books "Sacrifices in the Sicilian" by David Levy. Its out of print but  may still be found over at Ebay or Abebooks. The other is "Essential chess sacrifices " by David LeMoir. Covers quite a bit on the sicilian.

I only hv the 1st one.

Later edit: My general overview of najdorf 'must knows' found here : http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1131118378

Notes on h3 & f4 found here : http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1128752569/0

I know i didnt cover 6.Bg5, But basically soundest ways are either Poisoned Pawn or the main line. I personally play main line. PP is far too much work. Anyway quite a nomber of PP threads around here if you are interested.

Yep that Lemoir book and iirc there is also one by Van der Tak, which seems very good for this purpose.
  

If nothing else works, a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through.
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wcywing
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Re: which sicilian to play?
Reply #10 - 01/27/08 at 17:55:48
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MNb wrote on 01/27/08 at 10:45:59:
As you have decided to play 1...e5  already I suggest only to study the Sicilian as White. Alas against the Sicilian a sound, practical choice like the Italian does not exist.


don't worry, most of my focus will be on the open games as my main defence, as white i will focus on Be2 open sicilian depending on the situation of course. 

thank you for everyone's help.  everyone has been very helpful.  fortunately or unfortunatly i have not faced the sicilian that often.
  
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woofwoof
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Re: which sicilian to play?
Reply #9 - 01/27/08 at 14:01:40
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Willempie wrote on 01/27/08 at 00:41:40:
typical tactics in the sicilian.


I take this to mean the thematic sacs?? Rxc3, Bxe6, Bxb5, Nf5, Nd5 and so on?

If so, there are also these 2 books "Sacrifices in the Sicilian" by David Levy. Its out of print but  may still be found over at Ebay or Abebooks. The other is "Essential chess sacrifices " by David LeMoir. Covers quite a bit on the sicilian.

I only hv the 1st one.

Later edit: My general overview of najdorf 'must knows' found here : http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1131118378

Notes on h3 & f4 found here : http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1128752569/0

I know i didnt cover 6.Bg5, But basically soundest ways are either Poisoned Pawn or the main line. I personally play main line. PP is far too much work. Anyway quite a nomber of PP threads around here if you are interested.
« Last Edit: 01/27/08 at 16:56:20 by woofwoof »  

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MNb
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Re: which sicilian to play?
Reply #8 - 01/27/08 at 10:45:59
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As you have decided to play 1...e5  already I suggest only to study the Sicilian as White. Alas against the Sicilian a sound, practical choice like the Italian does not exist. If you chose some Anti-Sicilian (2.c3, 3.Bb5 or the more suspect Morra Gambit and Grand Prix) you will soon find out that these require as much maintenance as the Open Sicilian. You might consider the Closed Sicilian, but 2.Nc3 e6 3.g3 d5 does not appeal. So you'd rather take a deep breath and play the Open Sicilian. I did about 20 years ago, got only four games in a year, concluded that it was way too much work and still regret that decision. Fortunately it is possible to select some decent shortcuts.

Najdorf: 2...d6/5...a6 6.Be3 e6 7.Be2 (Classical Scheveningen), e5 7.Nf3 (7.Nb3 is sharper but requires more work) and Ng4 7.Bg5.
Classical Scheveningen: 2...d6/5...e6 6.Be3 (more sophisticated than 6.Be2) Be7 (Nc6 7.Bc4 is Sozin, a6 7.Be2 ) 7.g4 is a kind of Keres-Attack.
Sozin: 2...d6/5...Nc6 6.Bc4 e6 (Qb6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.o-o) 7.Be3 Be7 (a6 8.Bb3 Bd7 9.Qe2 or Na5 9.f4) 8.Bb3 0-0 (Bd7 9.Qe2 or a6 9.f4 Qc7 10.Qf3) 9.o-o Nxd4 (a6 10.f4) 10.Bxd4 a6 11.f4 b5 12.a3.
Dragon: 2...d6/5...g6 6.Be2 Bg7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Nb3 Nc6 9.Kh1 and 10.f4 or 10.Bg5.
Svesjnikov: 2...Nc6/5...e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Nd5
Accelerated Dragon: 2...Nc6/4...Nc6 5.Be2 Bg7 6.Nb3 will usually transpose to the Dragon.
Paulsen/Kan/Taimanov/Four Knights: 2...e6/4...a6 5.Be2 or 4...Nc6 5.Nc3 Nf6 (d6 6.Be3) 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.e5.

The idea is only to play x.Be2 after Black has played .e6/a6 or g6. At first you will not have to study this deeply, but you must maintain this continuously while you improve. The good news is that this will sharpen you weapons against the Sicilian as well and you will also gradually replace these lines by more ambitious and more popular attacking systems.
This seems to be a mix from Woofwoof's and Wilempie's suggestions.
  

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woofwoof
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Re: which sicilian to play?
Reply #7 - 01/27/08 at 05:50:47
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kylemeister wrote on 01/26/08 at 20:00:10:
Eh?  Be2 can certainly be played against the Taimanov and the Kan (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cd 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Be2 is a good order).


Ah! so there's a Be2 move in the Kan as well?? Oh Ok. Thats something new for me. Prior to this ive always thought things like Be2 always occurred on the 6th move, hence ive addressed on those sicilians that do.In life, one never stops learning isnt it?? Trust Kyle to always come up with bits of educational stuff every now & again. Thanks.
  

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Willempie
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Re: which sicilian to play?
Reply #6 - 01/27/08 at 00:41:40
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What will certainly help (for both white and black and with whichever system you decide to play) is going through games with typical tactics in the sicilian. I think that in that respect the book by Van der Tak on the sicilian may be far more useful than any theoretical book you can find. At 1400 and even at 1900 knowledge of the typical tactics will pay off far more than knowledge of the moves.
  

If nothing else works, a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through.
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wcywing
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Re: which sicilian to play?
Reply #5 - 01/27/08 at 00:21:11
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LeeRoth wrote on 01/26/08 at 23:54:00:
As Black, the Dragon and the Acc Dragon make better first Sicilians.  Plans are more clear cut and structure is more solid, which gives you a chance to concentrate on the tactics.  Wait for Andrew Greet's book on the Acc Dragon.  Then decide.  


i was waiting for Greet's book, but it keeps getting delayed...  Angry  i will wait some more i guess, i have thought about the Dragon, it avoids the bind.  i will have to get Dearing's book and Ward's book. 

as for anti-siclians, i have faced the Nc3 grandprix attack and the smith morra gambit.  i have never face the c3 sicilian yet.  in the mean time i will look at NCO to study the main lines.
  
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Re: which sicilian to play?
Reply #4 - 01/26/08 at 23:54:00
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Not there.  You need more experience and rating points under your belt before you start playing positions with a backward d-pawn and a big hole on d5.

As Black, the Dragon and the Acc Dragon make better first Sicilians.  Plans are more clear cut and structure is more solid, which gives you a chance to concentrate on the tactics.  Wait for Andrew Greet's book on the Acc Dragon.  Then decide.

You will also need to be ready for anti-sicilians.  My guess is that you are likely to see a lot of these at your level.  Look into a good line against the c3 Sicilian and the Grand Prix Attack, especially. 

  
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wcywing
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Re: which sicilian to play?
Reply #3 - 01/26/08 at 20:08:13
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kylemeister wrote on 01/26/08 at 20:00:10:
But when a 1400 player is considering things like "The Sveshnikov Reloaded," things have gone a bit off the rails ...  


this may be true, but one must start somewhere. 
  
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Re: which sicilian to play?
Reply #2 - 01/26/08 at 20:00:10
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Eh?  Be2 can certainly be played against the Taimanov and the Kan (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cd 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Be2 is a good order).

But when a 1400 player is considering things like "The Sveshnikov Reloaded," things have gone a bit off the rails ...
  
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woofwoof
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Re: which sicilian to play?
Reply #1 - 01/26/08 at 19:05:05
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If you wish to play open sicilians with Be2, then you will have to be prepared to meet the following:

1) Boleslavsky 1.e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be2 e5

2) Najdorf 1.e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 or 6...e6

3) Scheveningen 1.e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be2  Nc6

4) Classical dragon 1.e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be2 g6

but there are times you wont even get that far, cos black can play the Kan, Taimanov or  Sveshnikov, so where's your 6.Be2 now??

In my case anyway, I play 6.Bc4 against the 1st four above. It effectively prevents the Boleslavsky & classical dragon & leads to a sozin. 6.Bc4 against najdorf is also quite similar to a sozin. Saves me the trouble of having to prepare so many openings. Bc4 alone is a lot of work already. But you may try 6.Bg5 too if you prefer sharper positions.

In the case of the Schevy, if you follow up 6.Bc4 with Bb3,Be3,Qe2,0-0-0, f4 etc you will be playing the velimirovic attack. Alternatively you can play 6.g4 (Keres attack)

against kan, I suggest playing 1.e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 or 5.Nc3. But if you like maroczy bind type of positions you may also proceed 5.c4.

Against the Svesh I just play the main lines arising from Ndb5.

As to which sicilian to play, since you are not afraid of book lines & I take it that you are willing to invest time & money to stay updated, then its najdorf & Schevy. I did post an overview of what needs to be known to play a najdorf in some way earlier thread. I'll try to locate it & post it later on.
  

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wcywing
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which sicilian to play?
01/26/08 at 17:20:55
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someone suggested i start a thread on which sicilian to play and which system to play against the sicilian.  i am rated 1414.  i like tactical openings, and i'm not afraid to read books or lines.  however i'm not sure where to start with.  

with black i have played the accelerated dragon, i had some good games with but the results were not that great, something that i will study more on.  i have also thought about the Sveshnikov, the newest book by quality chess has reviews, from what i've read.  

i have not played against the sicilian that much, but i know i will face more of them especially against stronger players.  i will probaly play open sicilian with Be2 against most lines.  

any comments will be appreciated.  
  
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