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How to counter the Sicilian
Beat the Sicilian the next time you play it.

How to counter the Sicilian

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        Who here likes playing e4 but is afraid of countering the Sicilian? The Sicilian defense is the most popular response for black against e4. It starts after e4, and Black plays c5. Today in this blog I will show you how to beat the Sicilian defense as white with the closed Sicilian variation.

         I chose the closed Sicilian over the open Sicilian because it is simpler and there are less lines to remember. First lets look at a game played by Smyslov.

We have seen a game on the Closed Sicilian, so now lets learn some lines. Since in Smyslov's game black played Nc6 on move 2, we will look at that line first.

We saw how we should play against the Nc6 lines, next we should see how to respond if black plays on move 2, d6.

        That is how you counter the d6 lines. Now there are many more lines, but if you simply develop you should get a line that is similar to some of the lines that I showed you. If you want more lines then I suggest you check out Botvinnik or Smyslov's games. 
 
        We saw what to do in the opening. After the opening you have to attack their king. What you should do is the Qd2, Bh6 and f4 plans. Lets do some attacking puzzles to get you ready.
Lets do one more puzzle
So lets review: 
In both lines you have to develop 
In the Nc6 lines, if black plays d5 you should play exd5 and then d4

In the d6 lines you should play the plan be2 and Nf3

After the opening you should attack blacks king

You can watch this in my youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CvbqpVqHRI&list=PLN0OA65Eb3JeGQlgA6FdG-LCiI-dqHpv-&index=1