Sicilian defense strange hold

The Sicilian Defense is often a thorn in the side for 1.e4 players, with many tactical games arising from it. Elite players know this, and use it to play for a win with Black.

Stomp the Sicilian: The Maroczy Bind illustrates how the Maroczy Bind pawn structure (pawns on e4 and c4) is a great practical choice against any Sicilian setup, often denying Black the tactical battle they're hoping for. It's a unique Maroczy course, exploring some second moves by Black that no other Chessable course has covered thus far.

The course not only shows how the Maroczy Bind can be quite frustrating for Sicilian players, but also how it is a common and useful pawn structure that may arise out of other openings (for example, in 1.d4 openings in King's Indian setups), thus giving you a flexible and dynamic repertoire.

The positional pressure placed on the Black pieces will prove too much to handle, leading to Black frustratingly misplacing their pieces, which you can tactically punish. That's because you deprive Black of the most appealing squares for their pieces.

In this course, the goal will be to obtain the Maroczy whenever possible, with the following ideas:

♟ After 2…d6 you'll play the Prins Variation (3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.f3!?), protecting the e-pawn and preparing a c-pawn push

♟ The O'Kelly (2…a6) and the Accelerated Dragon (2…g6) will be met with the thematic 3.c4, one of the main theoretical moves against both setups

♟ The move 2…e6 is also met with the relatively fresh Kramnik Sicilian, arising after 3.c4

♟ 2…Nc6, preventing the Maroczy, is also covered, together with some other rare 2nd moves (2…Nf6, 2…Qa5, 2…b6 and others), providing you, thus, with a full anti-Sicilian repertoire