B43 Sicilian, Kan Variation
Take a moment to read about the Sicilan Defense to get some basic ideas.
Named after Ilya Kan. By playing 4...a6, Black prevents Nb5 and prepares an eventual ...b5 advance.
White's most popular reply is 5.Nc3, when Black's development of the kingside knight often takes focus, since playing ...Nf6 can be met with e5 which both creates a Black weakness on the d6-square and causes the Black knight a disadvantageous move. So Black normally plays a move to control the e5-square and prevent the pawn from advancing. The main Kan move is 5...Qc7, although 5...Nc6 transposing into a Taimanov or 5...d6 transposing into a Scheveningen can occur. An alternative idea is the immediate 5...b5 to create pressure from the queenside with the idea of playing ...b4 attacking the c3-knight, or Bb7 to build pressure along the long white-squared diagonal.
An alternative fifth move for White is 5.Bd3, when after 5...Bc5 6.Nb3 Black can either retreat 6...Be7 where 7.Qg4 makes Black's kingside problematic, or 6...Ba7. Also possible is 5.c4 to create a Maróczy bind setup.
Read about the Sicilian Kan on Wikipedia.
Videos -
General Notes -
White should watch for dark square weaknesses and initiate a push of the f and e pawns. Black should expand on the queen side.
Black -
- Undermine whties center.
- Late casteling
- Build-up queen side.
- Try to initiate d6 -> d5/e5
- Take advantage of premature king side attack.
White -
- Static pawns
- Control center
- Look for opportunity to remove blacks casteling rights.
- O-O
- Do not allow Black to control queen side.
