How do you play the sicilian

I agree that beginners should start with 1. e4.

As for the Sicilian, I agree that it shouldn't be played as black until you're at least a high level intermediate.

I play the Smith-Morra Gambit against it as white, and I've never met an OTB tournament opponent who has actually studied it at all (all below around 1900 USCF), so I always get an advantage out of the opening. Whether or not I can turn that advantage into a win is another matter, but at least I come out of the opening well, whether the gambit's accepted or declined. 

--Fromper 

Littleman:

Thks for the fantastic, clear, live demonstration

For one things its practicaly endless how many variations of this opening there are, so would take along time to even begin to try. But i have found of the many varieties of this, that they seem to have common themes. i.e; black tends to attack queen side most of the time and uses the c file to help bring the attack on. white tries to destroy the kindside more with e4 and f4 pawn advances and so on, blacks aim is always to trade the c pawn for the d pawn white has and white always aims to use his/her space and development against black in exchange. like i said a common concept, but the mastery is much harder hahaha.When your just starting out u dont need to know alot. because your still learning more important points of strategy and tactics and of course the all important endgame. So really u dont need alot of depth just a basic concept of what the opening is trying to achieve essentually.This i believe goes for all openings when your beginner to intermidiate. And when your other skills improve then go deeper in the idea's and methods...

If I was new to chess, and somebody told me that I should play a certain move because I wouldn't be able to understand the positional themes of a different choice, then I think I would be pretty offended - we're not doing much to dispell the myth that chessplayers are elitists are we? The simple truth is that you can play whatever you wish, and if you want to play 1.Nf3 or 1...c5 then do so, whatever your rating or level. Playing a difficult opening that interests you is almost certainly a better idea than playing a simple one that doesn't. You'll probably learn more, even if its the 'hard way'.

Yes, 1.e4 probably is easier to understand than 1.d4, but some people find deeper strategy easier than tactical calculations. Surely such a person has an easier time playing a closed position? Telling people that they should only play e4 is like setting them up to walk into your ...c5!

I agree with those people who made points about having better book knowledge than your peers. When I first read a little about openings, I was bemused to discover that I had been playing the Queen's Gambit for years.

So naturally I learnt more about it and I still grin every time black accepts. I wouldn't gain such an easy edge against stronger players who know more theory, but at my level it wins for me a lot; exploring more complicated ideas than your opponent is a good way to surpass them. So good advice to any player is to learn some openings - any openings - and know them reasonably well. Which ones is up to you. Some will hurt your head more than others of course!

With book moves try to find out a little about *why* and not just *what*. I've recently become very interested in the English Opening, but when I first came across it was recommended as the opening to learn if you only learn one opening, as black pretty much can't prevent you playing it, and you can even play it mirrored (the sicilian) against 1.e4! Great I thought, tell me more. Sadly, the only other information the book gave was 1.c4 2.Nc3, and the reasons for these moves are far from obvious.

Wikipedia is usually a good starting point to learn about an opening btw, but I didn't find its page on the Sicilian Defence as useful as many of the other pages they host.

any opening you can't play, is an opening you can't play against.

Thats not actually true per say, all u need to know is the general concept of the openings. the idea behind the main lines i believe anyway and most off beat lines are easier to understand from that point... I found for eg that to beat the center counter/scandenavian defence all i had to do was understand it from whites side and what black was trying to do for eg and what white was doing to defend against that....

I don't believe any chess move should be governed by your rating. 

If you like the look of the Sicilian, go on and play it. You'll get the hang of it sooner or later.

When people say you should or shouldn't make a move I always assume they mean that these should be done in tournament play.  Obviously in practice you should try everything that interests you.

I just started playing Sicilian last week after not playing chess at all for nearly ten years.  I win 50% of the time as black in live play (or so I haven't checked my stats to be sure.)   My Live rating is hovering arround 1350.  In correspondence my play has been borderline horrible.  I think my opponents are investing more time and thought into these games than I am.  My point is that I'm not very good/experienced but Sicilian isn't making me worse or wasting my time.

 Good luck to you.

 Anthony

This is certainly a good point (especially for ambitious types) and of course there is nothing wrong with e4 at any level. That said, I still believe the most important thing for beginners (well, anyone who can't make a living from it actually - ie most of us!) is to enjoy and be interested in the game, whatever gets you back to the board time and again.

You doesn't need to  get 1800 rating, to start study and play Sicilian!

Be Brave! Start now. Use it, or loose it...

 I play poorly! 

I'd say find one of the main lines and learn it.  Then branch out from there. 

Use logic approach!

Control the Pace of the Development and  Control the fight of the Center! 

in order to better yourself, as far as chess goes, you should challenge yourself and your mind with as many possibilities as you possibly can.   yes, becoming familiar with certain strategies along with pins, forks, double checks, etc...is important, but how did you know about those, you learned it, and learning demands questioning whatever it is that you are learning, and opening up to possibilities of the task...that is if you truly want to learn something......

to all the beginner to intermediate  players...don;t let anyone stop you from expanding your knowledge base, because those that place limits on learning, have only limited their own mindset, plus i like learning the hard way lol