Stigma wrote on 09/22/10 at 02:31:16:
At least now it's 7...Be7 and I won't have to weaken my queenside with ...b5 too!
But seriously, since you still like the opening, is there a cure for people like me who have come to hate the ...e5 Sicilians? A training DVD, a games collection, a series of strategic lessons, a self-help tape?
Or will the solution to all my worries be revealed for the first time in your book?
You'll be saddened to find out that 7...Be7!? 8. Nc4! b5 is the main line. Black probably needs to boot the knight before 9. Be3 happens, such that 10. Nb6 doesn't win the all important defender of the light-squares sitting on c8.
Secondly, I think it just takes some experience, and the right mindset. I have only played Sicilians with very rigid pawn structures - first the Dragon, then the Sveshnikov, and now the Kalashnikov. I dearly love all of them, but my current project is the Kalashnikov.
I think it just takes studying the lines to understand that the hole on d5 is compensated for by other factors, and how to use them. In the Sveshnikov, White gets Black's shattered pawn structure, the whole on d5, and the weak pawn on d6 for the two bishops, an open g-file, an extra f-pawn, and some queenside space. Black normally works up counterplay very quickly, and possibly in all sectors, and White's job is to quickly stamp it out and claim his positional trumps are surpreme.
In the Kalashnikov, play can be slower or even faster, but certain things may help you in understanding how to deal with the d5 hole and a knight sitting there in both ...e5 Sicilians:
Firstly, most people say that at first, when learning an opening, just memorize some ideas and the main lines. Well, in an ...e5 Sicilian, I'm of the opinion that paying attention to the sidelines is equally important. When you're walking through main lines in, let's say,
The Easiest Sicilian, the sidelines illustrate (generally) how Black reaches equality, and in most cases it's:
1. Counterplay somewhere, whether it be on the kingside, on the queenside with ...b4, or in the center with exchanges and his extra pawns.
2. Completely neutralizing the d5-weakness, for example playing ...Bg5 and taking the knight on e3, followed by ...Nc6-e7 and ...Bb7, completely overtaking it.
Black can also plug up the weaknesses of d5 and d6 by taking on d5 enough times to put a pawn there. This happens very often in the Kalashnikov main lines, and it's a great way to go as long as (if Black used his light-squared bishop) his kingside remains safe, his other light-squares remain safe (such as c6), and the e4-square is not of serious use to White.
3. Playing ...d5 himself. Of course, this is similar to 2, but if White doesn't leave this square tied down, Black is almost always equal or better after this move. I've seen this so many times in writing my book I'm sick of it.
4. Exchanging enough pieces overall such that Black's d5 weakness isn't a huge deal. This can happen a lot in the Kalashnikov 6. c4 where White has a bit more space everywhere. Exchanging off a lot of pieces eases this, and makes it easy for Black to maneuver around somewhere else.
5. Using the counter-weakness (just made that up) of d4. In the 6. c4 Kalashnikov lines, occasionally Black can stamp a knight that's difficult to remove on d4, counterbalancing White's on d5.
Of course, main lines are main lines because White makes these ideas difficult for Black to achieve, and keeps him busy worrying about it. That's where Black needs to know his stuff, and that's why it's important to know your theory, so that you get the ideas, you understand the positions, and you're ready to pounce on White when he deviates (because you're so knowledgeable) before you.
For me, I started excelling here and getting great results when I worked my way through
The Easiest Sicilian for the first time. I still consider the Sveshnikov one of the easiest sicilians to pick up, and I still think this is one of my favorite books. Taking on the Kalashnikov after that was a natural progression, and it was very easy for me after looking through the games of the experts and checking out the theory. If you wanted to pick up the Kalashnikov, my book will be good, but so would Trajko and Nedev's to understand really what's going on!
I do hope that my book will help players out here!