Every Sicilian Variation

[Cris Luczak]

TheSicilian Defense is the most popular response to 1.e4, and its popularity shows no indication of declining. In fact, the more we explore this incredible defense to 1.e4, the more our enjoyment of the Sicilian Defense grows.

There are many variations within the Sicilian Defense, and whole books have been written about a single variation. Fortunately, even if you are not a professional or a titled player, it is possible for you to play the Sicilian Defense.

The Open Sicilian is characterized by White playing d4 and capturing on d4 with the knight, or occasionally the queen. The recapture with the knight is the more common response by a considerable margin.

The sacrifice is fully justified if Black can capture a pawn on the kingside, usually the h-pawn or e4-pawn. One of the many surprises the Dragon variation holds is that Black can transpose to an endgame with every chance of winning the game even after playing the exchange sacrifice.

Chris Ward has written a book on the Sicilian Defense Dragon Variation and plays this opening in his own games. Here he shows us the exchange sacrifice is not only played with the idea to checkmate White quickly.

The fighting nature of the Dragon Variation and the double-edged positions might make it challenging for beginners to master. Still, with help from Super GM Anish Giri, you might surprise yourself with how quickly you master the Dragon Variation.

Maxime Vachier Lagrave will play the Najdorf variation against anybody in chess today. Even though his opponents know what opening he will play, he remains true to this dynamic, attacking variation of the Sicilian Defense.

Despite the success he enjoyed with the Dragon Variation against Anand, soon after the match, Garry Kasparov returned to playing the Najdorf Variation. In one of his games against a strong British grandmaster, Michael Adams, Kasparov won the game in only 26 moves!

If you are a beginner thinking of playing the Sicilian Defense, one of the best variations to start with is the Kan Variation. Unlike the Dragon and Najdorf variations, there are very few razor-sharp lines for you to learn.

The solid nature of your position makes it extremely difficult for White to take advantage of his development lead. Although it takes you longer to develop your pieces with black, if you resist the urge to engage the white pieces early, you will achieve a perfectly playable position.

Like the Kan Variation in the Sicilian Defense, the Taimanov requires a lot less theory than the more popular Dragon and Najdorf variations. Because it is less popular theoretical novelties do not occur as often as in some of the other variations.

The Taimanov is an excellent choice for beginners who prefer a more active development than in the Kan Variation. In the Taimanov, the knights get developed on c6 and f6, the bishops often go to b7 and c5, and the queen gets developed on c7.

The Classical Sicilian is an excellent choice for club players because you have a good chance of creating counter-play early in the game. Generating counter-play is possible thanks to the classical development of the black pieces.

Despite there only being two main moves played by White at master level (6.Ndb5 and 6.Nxc6), it is essential to know how to play against the usual sixth moves from White. Moves like 6.Be2, 6.Be3, and 6.Bg5 are not as dangerous for Black in the Four Knights as they are in other variations.

With natural developing moves, an easy-to-remember strategy, and active piece play, the Sicilian Defense Four Knights Variation will become more popular very soon. Get in ahead of the crowd and make it your secret weapon.

The Sicilian Defense will undoubtedly continue to serve chess players well for many years into the future. As our understanding of chess deepens, we will indeed discover even greater treasures and more profound levels to this stalwart defense.

Regardless of your playing style, you are sure to find a variation to suit you and provide you with a dependable defense to 1.e4. Even better is you can continue playing this fighting defense as you progress and become a stronger player.

The choice of opening you play must fit your playing style. Players who prefer a solid position are likely to find the Caro-Kann more to their liking. You might find the Sicilian Defense more suitable if you enjoy unbalanced positions.

The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4. The opening 1.d4 is a statistically more successful opening for White because of the high success rate of the Sicilian defence against 1.e4.[1] New In Chess stated in its 2000 Yearbook that, of the games in its database, White scored 56.1% in 296,200 games beginning 1.d4, but 54.1% in 349,855 games beginning 1.e4, mainly because the Sicilian held White to a 52.3% score in 145,996 games.[2]

Grandmaster John Nunn attributes the Sicilian Defence's popularity to its "combative nature": "in many lines Black is playing not just for equality, but for the advantage. The drawback is that White often obtains an early initiative, so Black has to take care not to fall victim to a quick attack."[4] Grandmaster Jonathan Rowson considered why the Sicilian is the most successful response to 1.e4, even though 1...c5 develops no pieces and the pawn on c5 controls only d4 and b4. Rowson writes:

Meanwhile, advancing a queenside pawn has given Black a spatial advantage there and provides a basis for future operations on that flank. Often, Black's c5-pawn is traded for White's d4-pawn in the early stages of the game, granting Black a central pawn majority. The pawn trade also opens the c-file for Black, who can place a rook or queen on that file to support the queenside counterplay. In many variations, White castles queenside to exploit attacking chances on the kingside at the cost of moving his king to the flank where Black has a spatial advantage.[citation needed]

The Sicilian Defence was analysed by Giulio Polerio in his 1594 manuscript on chess,[7] though he did not use the term 'Sicilian Defence'.[8] It was later the subject of analyses by leading players of the day Alessandro Salvio (1604), Don Pietro Carrera (c. 1617), and Gioachino Greco (1623), and later Conte Carlo Francesco Cozio (c. 1740). The great French player and theoretician Andr Danican Philidor opined of the Sicilian in 1777, "This way of opening the game ... is absolutely defensive, and very far from being the best ... but it is a very good one to try the strength of an adversary with whose skill you are unacquainted."[9]

The opening fell out of favour in the later part of the nineteenth century, when some of the world's leading players rejected it.[A] Paul Morphy, the world's best player in the late 1850s, decried "that pernicious fondness for the Sicilian Defense ... extending from about 1843 to some time after 1851".[13] Wilhelm Steinitz, the first World Champion, also disliked the Sicilian and rejected it in favour of 1...e5.[B][14] The death of the opening's two greatest proponents, Staunton and Anderssen, in 1874 and 1879 respectively, also contributed to its decline. It has been said that "these losses almost dealt a knockout blow to the Sicilian because it took a long time to find such important figures to carry the Sicilian's standard."[15] George H. D. Gossip, in The Chess Player's Manual, first published in 1874, wrote, "Of late years ... discoveries have been made which have the effect of considerably strengthening White's attack, and the 'Sicilian' is now considered by most modern authorities to be a comparatively weak mode of play."[16] Freeborough and Ranken, in their treatise Chess Openings: Ancient and Modern (1889, 1896), wrote that the Sicilian "had at one time the reputation of being the best reply to 1.P-K4 [1. e4], but this has not been confirmed by popular practice. Several eminent players have, however, held to the opinion that it is quite trustworthy."[17][18]

The Sicilian continued to be shunned by most leading players at the start of the twentieth century, as 1...e5 held centre stage. Jos Ral Capablanca, the World Champion from 1921 to 1927, famously denounced it as an opening where "Black's game is full of holes".[19] Similarly, James Mason wrote, "Fairly tried and found wanting, the Sicilian has now scarcely any standing as a first-class defence. ... [It] is too defensive. There are too many holes created in the Pawn line. Command of the field, especially in the centre, is too readily given over to the invading force."[20] Siegbert Tarrasch wrote that 1...c5 "is certainly not strictly correct, for it does nothing toward development and merely attempts to render difficult the building up of a centre by the first player. ... The Sicilian Defence is excellent for a strong player who is prepared to take risks to force a win against an inferior opponent. Against best play, however, it is bound to fail."[21] The Sicilian was not seen even once in the 75 games played at the great St. Petersburg 1914 tournament.[22]

Nonetheless, some leading players, such as Emanuel Lasker (World Champion from 1894 to 1921), Frank Marshall, Savielly Tartakower, and Aron Nimzowitsch, and later Max Euwe (World Champion from 1935 to 1937) played the Sicilian.[23] Even Capablanca[24][25] and Tarrasch,[26] despite their critical comments, occasionally played the opening. It was played six times (out of 110 games) at New York 1924.[27] The following year, the authors of Modern Chess Openings (4th edition) wrote, "The Sicilian has claims to be considered as the best of the irregular defences to 1.P-K4 at Black's disposal, and has been practised with satisfactory results by the leading players of the day."[C] In this period Black's approach was usually slow and positional, and the all-out attacks by White that became common after World War II had not yet been developed.[28]

The fortunes of the Sicilian were further revived in the 1940s and 1950s by players such as Isaac Boleslavsky, Alexander Kotov, and Miguel Najdorf. Reuben Fine, one of the world's leading players during this time period, wrote of the Sicilian in 1948, "Black gives up control of the centre, neglects his development, and often submits to horribly cramped positions. How can it be good? Yet, the brilliant wins by White are matched by equally brilliant wins by Black; time and again the Black structure has been able to take everything and come back for more."[D]Later, Bent Larsen, Ljubomir Ljubojević, Lev Polugaevsky, Leonid Stein, Mark Taimanov, and Mikhail Tal all made extensive contributions to the theory and practice of the defence. Through the efforts of world champions Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov, the Sicilian Defence became recognised as the defence that offered Black the most winning chances against 1.e4. Both players favoured sharp, aggressive play and employed the Sicilian almost exclusively throughout their careers, burnishing the defence's present reputation. Today, most leading grandmasters include the Sicilian in their opening repertoire. In 1990, the authors of Modern Chess Openings (13th edition) noted that "in the twentieth century the Sicilian has become the most played and most analysed opening at both the club and master levels."[29] In 1965, in the tenth edition of that book, grandmaster Larry Evans observed that "The Sicilian is Black's most dynamic, asymmetrical reply to 1.P-K4. It produces the psychological and tension factors which denote the best in modern play and gives notice of a fierce fight on the very first move."[30]

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