7.Bc4 Nb6 8.Bb5 is the authors main recommendation and they try to prove that White has at least a little something here, but you are probably right that it´s not much. But it fits well with the title of the book since Black can hardly generate winning chances in this line.

The most recent source on 5.Bc4 is probably the chessable course "The High Pressure Alapin Sicilian" by GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen. I cannot say how good the coverage is since I haven´t studied it yet.

fjd wrote on 03/12/20 at 22:24:41:


It will be the exchange variation (3. exd5 followed by 4.Bd3). They have an upcoming book covering the exchange against the Caro-Kann and the French. I am looking forward to it as I have really enjoyed the series so far.
http://chess-stars.com/resources/eng_Simple_means_titul.pdf

I just noticed this thread is in the Open Sicilians forum.

It should be moved to the Anti-Sicilians forum and the 2 c3 Sicilian subforum.

tp2205 wrote on 08/05/20 at 07:41:17:
6.dxc5

doefmat wrote on 08/05/20 at 07:15:27:

Two historical bits:
"!?" -- Sveshnikov, 1997
"one of my favourite lines for White" -- David Smerdon (Chess Publishing, 2014)

doefmat wrote on 08/03/20 at 20:13:53:


If I had to bet, I would say the 2N variation. We'll see...

Moderators: could you please move this thread to the relevant anti-Sicilian section? (When I started it, I did not know what line the authors were going to recommend)

fjd wrote on 07/27/20 at 21:49:35:


They recommend 6. Nbd2, followed by Bc4 in most cases (for example after 6...cxd4). I just got the book from Forward Chess (looks like it got released a bit early). At first sight, it looks very promising (on par with Squeezing 1. e4 e5)

I wonder what they'll give against 2...d5 3 exd5 Qxd5 4 d4 Nf6 5 Nf3 Bg4, which always annoyed me.

doefmat wrote on 07/26/20 at 07:20:33:



Yes they usually do this for the larger courses but for the courses of around 300 trainable variations there is often nothing and it can be very difficult to get a response to your questions as I have found out with 4 Qb3  against the Slav.....so I haven't brought it.

MW wrote on 07/25/20 at 22:30:18:


For most big courses they also release free 'short and sweet' versions of the course . There are quite a view lines in there. Also, sometimes the video introduction is free. 

doefmat wrote on 07/25/20 at 13:41:16:


I couldn't find any mention of this on the Chessable Website, what is your source.

What annoys me a little about Chessable is that it is often difficult to find out what variations have been used until you buy it. I know they offer a no questions asked refund policy if you return the course within 30 days but that puts the burden on you the customer to  take action. I just don't understand why they don't give you a better idea of content up front.

With Chess Stars you have an abridged index on their website that you can look at before you buy plus Khalifman is well know and well regarded author...

Guess a lot of it also comes down to whether you prefer printed or IT based products.

tracke wrote on 07/18/20 at 10:05:38:


For someone who had 'retired' from writing chess books, he isnt doing too badly in regards to output...that's at least 3 i think (this and two for Russell Enterprises so far)

TopNotch wrote on 06/18/20 at 20:33:56:


Same here, very much looking forward to it. Really enjoyed their other book Squeezing e4 e5.

I wonder why it first said april and now still is delayed. Hopefully not cancelled?

Personally I find 3...c5 4 exd5 Qxd5 the most annoying line against the French Tarrasch (although I don't meet it as often as 3...Nf6 or 3...dxe4). I think this is also meant to be Black's "best" choice objectively. So you could (optimistically) make the case that the c3 Sicilian with 2...e6 and exd5 ...exd5 is an improved French Tarrasch for White, as Black didn't go for this ...Qxd5 line.

btw, I always liked White in lines where Black goes ...e6 early. Not that White has an advantage, but it always felt a little more pleasant to be White. On the other hand, I never really got anything I liked after ...d5 + ...Nf6 + ...Bg4 or ...Nf6 w/o ...e6. I'm not that much of a c3 Sicilian guy anymore, but I did play 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 c3 in a game a couple years ago.

Inferior? Maybe very slightly, as c2-c3 this early in an exd5 ...exd5 French Tarrasch is not usually considered to be the most accurate move order, but I still think it's slightly more pleasant for White. Anyway, IMO, it's more than White gets after 2...Nf6.

Tauromachie wrote on 03/14/20 at 15:55:43:


Agreed with the 2N vs. the Caro. Quite a few books have covered the French Tarrasch. My guess would be the advance variation or maybe even the exchange...

I second ehpotsirhcs view, quite irritating. 

This book will be pretty interesting. I am not much concerned about 2..d5, the IQP positions are quite easy to play for white. I wonder however what they will do about 2..Nf6 with 9.Qe2. I highly doubt they will go for the aggressive treatment with 10.Nc3 and rather suspect 10.Rd1!? like in the Leela game.

I enjoyed their work on the spanish four knights and I like the overall tone of this new repertoire series. Hopefully it will be a straightforward 5 Volume series - with Volume 5 covering all minor lines besides 1..e5, 1..c5, 1..c6 and 1..e6. I do not feel much incentive to buy 10 books. 

You could also just go for the exchange lines against both 1..c6 and 1..c6, cover both the caro and the french in one book and safe at least 200 pages of analyses  

But I would most certainly bet on the 2 Knights against the Caro and the Tarrasch against the French, which I would be happy to see.

By the way, does anyone know how we can move this thread to the proper forum? (c3 Sicilian)

TopNotch wrote on 03/12/20 at 21:10:09:

Assuming that the series is eventually intended to be a complete repertoire, wouldn't it be reasonable just to say "See our forthcoming book Squeezing the French"?  Surely there were plenty of such cross-references in the Anand and Kramnik series?

Straggler wrote on 03/12/20 at 09:22:29:


I doubt that we will see the Panov against the Caro as there is not much new there to report as far as I know, more likely it will be the Advanced, but I am betting more on the Two Knight's Variation as there has been many new exciting developments there and the positions are promising and fun to play. Regarding 1.e4 c5 2.c3 e6 3.d4 d5 I have no doubt it will be 4. exd5 since 4. e5 will take too much space to cover, having said that I've noticed that the Advance French is becoming popular again so when they get around to Squeezing the French that will be a serious candidate. By the way I am pouring through Squeezing 1.e4 e5 and quite enjoying it, lots of fresh analysis and the evaluations look to be more realistic than many of the other hyperbolic Repertoire books out there. 

Early days yet, but I'm really loving the premise and the execution of this Series so far.   
  

I'd be curious how Khalifman and Soloviov will meet 1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nf3 d6 5.Bc4 e6 6.d4 cxd4 7.cxd4 Be7 (chapter 17B). If it's 8.O-O O-O 9.Qe2 (inviting a transposition to chapter 18) then both b6 and Bd7 have done very well for Black.

kylemeister wrote on 03/11/20 at 15:35:40:


Wow!, I'm really looking forward to this book now and sincerely hope it doesn't fail to disappoint. The fact that this line [4...e6  5.Bc4  d6  6.d4  cd  7.cd  Nc6  8.0-0  Be7  9.Qe2] is in the table of contents signals to me that a lot of thought and research has probably gone into this Alapin Repertoire, as Lc0 has used exactly this variation to win an impressive and little known game against Stockfish that suggests there is more life in many of these Alapin Lines for White than suggested by existing theory.   

So glad they didn't go the Rossolimo/Moscow route that has been so common the past few years, and chose instead to give  the Alapin the long overdue makeover it deserves. Lets hope it's worth the wait.

By the way, further to my mention of the Rossolimo/Moscow lines I would like to mention the two recent Chessbase DVD's by Jan Werle. These DVD's were a mixed bag for me, I was excited at first when I saw some of the fresh material he was covering but after viewing most of the content I was left unconvinced in many places and thought that some of his recommendations were downright strange and offered absolutely zilch, for instance:   

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Nxd7 Under-rated and poorly covered for White in most sources. 5.0-0 Ngf6 Now 6.Re1 is Van-Werle's recommendation, don't ask me why. He continues 6...e6 7.c3 Be7 8.d4 0-0 and goes for the direct 9.e5  analysing 9...dxe5 10.dxe5 Nd5 but inexplicably fails to consider the well tested alternative 9...Ne8 with dull equality. Go figure.

Forgive that digression, perhaps I will eventually do a full review of those DVD's in an appropriate thread should the spirit move me.

fjd wrote on 03/06/20 at 16:36:31:


Thanks for letting us know. Interesting choice. Looks like I posted in the wrong forum, though...

I am interested too!!