About books on the Sicilian Grand Prix Attack

Thanks RussBell and kindaspongey for further info! 

Welcome.

Chapter 4 of Vincent Moret's book is devoted (47 pages) to a tutorial on the Grand Prix Attack...it's an excellent, instructively presented introduction....

Use the "Look Inside" feature (located just above the book's cover graphic) on this webpage to view the table of contents of the book. - then scroll down to p.55 for an excerpt from the chapter on the GPA...

https://www.amazon.com/First-Chess-Opening-Repertoire-White/dp/9056916335/ref=sr_1_1?crid=NIPUDDFFAOPH&keywords=my+first+chess+opening+repertoire+for+white&qid=1564950849&s=gateway&sprefix=my+first+chess+op%2Caps%2C191&sr=8-1

Unfortunately, it informs me that the chapter on the GPA is not available to view at this time. But i did at least use the 'Look inside' feature to read some of G. Jones' book which was helpful, thanks!

Strange.  I was able to view the first few pages of Moret's chapter 4 on the GPA just a few hours ago using the "Look Inside" feature.  Now I can't either.

As for the "Look Inside" feature of Gawain Jones' book on Amazon, I notice that it is reproduced from the Kindle version of the book, not the print version.  This because while the content is the same in both, the formatting is different in each version (note there are no "page" numbers in the Kindle version, which does not have "pages", as they exist in the print version).

Thanks again. Update on my first post: 2013 reprint of Hodgson/Day's book does include supplementary new games + analysis section at the end.

I think it's easy to equalise. Anyway, I invented a system against the GPA and I have no trouble with it. No idea if it's in any of the books. I just play e6, a6 and d5. Equality.

I don't know (yet) if your moves will be discussed in any of the GPA books. Seems perfectly playable and i imagine it could lead to a slow, manoeuvring kind of game. I looked at some of my OTB games from yrs ago where i was Black facing the GPA and i think i usually played e6, Nc6, a6, d5 although i sometimes opted for the fianchetto defence. I probably won't want to play the GPA as White too often in Daily but instead wheel it out occasionally for Live usage.

For players starting out either playing against the GPA or wanting to play it, I would recommend 2 books, Weeramantry’s Best   Lessons of a Chess Coach, and Yermolinsky’s Road to chess Improvement.  These 2 books have excellent actual explanations on the plans/themes ideas behind the GPA from both the black and white side. (Yermolinsky is not a fan, and Weeramantry is) Obviously a bit dated but I think a good starting point. 

Thanks for your recommendations, gwashington7. Both books seem well-regarded online.

Gawain does not follow Dzindzi practices.

There are two main approaches. Very few players of the white side seem to want to maintain the tension, which white should really do if possible. So they tend to play 5. ed in about 35% of games, and then maybe try to play c4 to dissolve the centre with the hope that white gets targets on the Q-side. In the other 65% they seem to play 5. e5, which leads to three types of game. They can play c3, Nc3 or systems with g3. Occasionally they go wild and try to attack with pawns on the k-side, which should provide black with targets. Black plays Nc6, Bd7, Be2, Nh6 and so on. It can be nice and positional, which suits me because I'm a tactical player.

Noted :-D

I don't think i ever faced your order of moves before, usually there's a N move early on. I'll be interested if it's mentioned at all in any of the books e.g. Gawain's or Lane's. I might be tempted to switch it to a Closed Sic. or i wonder if any of your lines can transpose to a normal Open Sicilian(?)

I see no reason to move Nc3 because although that's a standard move for black in the closed variation, there's no need to tell white and it does no particular good that I can see to play it before the four pawn moves, since black gets flexibility. The destination of the g8 N is of course uncertain so that can't be moved. In the closed variation it always goes to h6.

1. e4 ... c5 2. Nc3 ...e6 3. f4 ... a6 and white can play 4. d4 ...cd. I don't think that's bad for white but very often, they have an inflexible mind-set.

Delaying it to play 4. Nf3 allows ...d5 of course, Presumably white wouldn't like black to play de so something has to be done. I don't think it's too bad for white though.

I did develop it myself and had never seen it played before. It came about because I didn't like the effects of Bb5+ and lost a couple of positional games where that was played and black's q-side was slightly degraded. I've developed quite a few of my own lines in general .... some probably not so good. But the great one is 1. e4 ...c5 2. Nf3 ...a6 3. d4 ...cd 4. Nxd4... Nf6 5. Nc3 ...Qc7. I've argued with some people like Pfren over that. He's very much a believer in provenance for lines but I suspect I might know more about that line than anyone else alive. He thinks that impossible because I'm not a GM. I don't think that belief is logical, however. It seems to be almost a logical fallacy in itself.

Upon consulting "Unorthodox Openings" by Benjamin/Schiller, i see that you may have devised a 'cautious (or modified) Quinteros' variation of the Sicilian Defence...  Does it produce good results? Currently, i play the Morra G. against the Sicilian but feel i need to be less predictable, hence this thread.

It isn't a Quinteros. The Quinteros was aimed at producing a completely unorthodox type of Sicilian. Mine is not at all unorthodox .... it's a Kan with altered move order. The aim of my move order is that it gains a whole tempo on the Bd3 variation of the Kan or Paulsen. The Bd3 variation is white's strongest try against the Paulsen because it doesn't present black with the target of a knight on c3. Bd3 is generallly accepted as stronger than Nc3. This vatiation allows e7-e6-e5 in a single move .... hence saving a tempo. It equalises completely for black in a way that allows black to play for a win, whereas the e5 versons of the O'Kelly do not do that. In the e5 variations, unless white plays inaccurately he always maintains a positional edge.

1. Black has easy equality in the O'Kelly ...e5 lines.

2. The move order 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6?! 3.c4! allows white to avoid the most annoying Black Kan lines against the 5.c4! variation (advocated by the two most recent white repertoire books by Kotronias and Shaw), which involve an early ...Bb4, by simply postponing d2-d4 for a couple of moves.

I've been playing it for decades and I like it a lot. If I got bad results, I wouldn't like it at all. I tried to promote my discovery on here but constantly ran into the criticism that the O'Kelly is so strong for black that everybody who understands that plays an ant-Sicilian against it. That may be c3, c4, KIA or whatever. I tried to argue the case but constantly ran into extremely aggressive criticism. My contention is that the normal O'Kelly move order with Nf6 and then e5 is actually bad for black and not bad for white. The only titled player who supported my case was James Coleman, who agreed with me that it shouldn't be treated tactically by white but positionally and white definitely gets the better game due to the presence of the e5 pawn that cuts black's position in half and prevents good communication between the Q-side and the K-side.

I think there's a misapprehension about the strength of grassroots chess in the North of England and there are also psychological misapprehensions. It isn't understood that players of 1900 strength can play as strongly as a GM on their day and the only thing that denotes titled players is their consistency ... that they are consistently able to play at that level. So arguments from authority just don't cut it, but few people were willing to stand up to those who believe they know better. I know loads of players of around my strength who have beaten IMs and GMs or obtained winning positions and then have lost or drawn .... and I'm not talking about blitz or simuls but at proper match play.

So now I've got that out of the way, I just think I have devised a really good, independent Sicilian variation. It isn't suspect, like the hyper-accelerated Dragon, for instance. It stands up to absolutely anything that can be thrown at it. Some titled players don't like this sort of incursion into what they may consider to be their territory.