LOL at the sicilian

well i played one rapid game. My opponent was black. It was very funny...

A long time ago I was a friend of a Yugoslav GM who was a student in an English University just before England got it's first GM. We went up to play in a top open tournament in Edinburgh where noone knew him. He got to play 4 rounds as black against present and past chess champions of Great Britain. Every game was the same. I'd look in and black seemed to be doing fine. I'd look in later and white had sacked a piece with questionable (to me) compensation. I'd look in later and he'd sacked another piece and I could not see a concrete win. Shortly therafter black resigned. It was like watching Tal at his finest. Of course, nowadays black players know the lines better than back then, but the point is that I've seen a GM player play early Bc4 lines against weaker but still respectable players and win quite easily.

I played sicilian defense in 59 blitz games in Chess.com. 

White: 21 Draw: 2 Black: 36.

I played sicilian defense in the team league of my country and I'm happy with the results. 

Sicilian defense is a good opening for club level. 

That must be going back around 40 years, maybe more.

I don't know what this Yugoslav was playing exactly and I guess it is a bit long ago to expect you to recall.  He sounds like an interesting player.

I have never seen 2 B-c4 from a GM.  The bishop can quite sensibly go to that square a bit later.  But club players play 2 B-c4 frequently, at least against me.

And out of curiosity, how much time did you spend preparing your sicilian defence? Compared to the preparation of your white opening.

Or can you honestly say that you spent the same amount of time for your black defence against d4, whatever that is?

And in aswer to the person who asked me what I wanted to do with this topic: it just rustles my jimmies that a ton of videos here are about or with the sicilian defence. Their content doesn't have any transferrable value and is only relevant to those who want to delve into the complications of theory.

That's the primary reason I stopped being a diamond member.

I've put far more work in as White preparing for openings than I have with Black, and my Black openings are Sicilian Four Knights (sharp and quite difficult for Black, but trappy) and KID (super sharp in some lines). Yet I still seem to get better positions as Black than White, and have much more fun playing Black as well.

The Scheveningen is very easy to play, for one. I spent a weekend 6 years ago on it and I haven't done any more preparation with it. All of my other openings have been at least 5 times the preparation time.

Yes I think the set up with e6 and d6 is easier to play, in the Najdorf I was almost always using that. E5 D6 is more problematic.

Did you prepare against the Keres attack?

If you use the 2...e6 move order, you don't need to.

This allows for the Maroczy though, doesn't it?

The only way for White to play the Maroczy is 5.Nb5, after which his Knight gets out of play on a3 and Black is equal. 5.c4?! is at least equal for Black.

In 1988 at the World Open, I played the Sicilian Najdorf against Mikhail Tal and drew.

He was ranked 4th in the world at the time, and had just won the world Blitz a few days earlier.

I think you've mentioned that before but didn't have access to the game. Any chance you found it? I'd love to see it.

Unfortunately not. If a copy still exists, it's somewhere among a relative's effects in Ottawa.

I've played the 'Slick-Silly-One' all my life -- always an interesting opening.

Fact is, chess is NOT a game of chance, naturally you're far more likely to lose anytime you play someone 'stronger than you' -- but that's pretty much true with any opening.

You mentioned the Sveshnikov in you post. As a Sveshnikov player, here is my response:

Firstly I have a 100% record with the opening OTB (3/3)

Secondly, I score incredibly well with the opening on chess.com:

 Third, your statement that black has to know theory or he is busted ignores the fact that white needs to know a lot of theory too. White can get in just as much trouble (if not more) if he doesn't know his theory. And it's much easier for black since he only has to pick one line while white has to learn everything.

Also, nice troll post.