Need a good, sound anti-sicilian, life is too easy for black in the open - Chess Forums

Lawkeito

Jul 2, 2017

0

#1

I've been playing e4 as recomended for my level of play, but the sicilian is too hard to beat.

Black has too many plans, threats and options, meanwhile as white we have a theoretical attack but that is too hard to implement, since the sicilian has no weak squares (shvenigen).

I've heard the grand prix is not sound. Is the 2.c3 a good option ?

kindaspongey

Jul 2, 2017

0

#2

A number of possibilities are discussed in:
Starting Out: The Sicilian by GM John Emms (2009)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627122350/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen123.pdf
Suggestions can be found in:
A Simple Chess Opening Repertoire for White by Sam Collins
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/A_Simple_Chess_Opening_Repertoire_for_White.pdf
My First Chess Opening Repertoire for White by Vincent Moret

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9033.pdf
Chris Baker's A Startling Chess Opening Repertoire
http://www.theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/more-nco-gambits-and-repertoires
John Emms's Attacking with 1.e4
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627003909/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen29.pdf
http://www.theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/one-book-repertoires-online-bargain
Kaufman's original repertoire book, The Chess Advantage in Black and White
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626223458/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen62.pdf
http://www.theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/in-the-beginning-there-was-theory
Sam Collins's An Attacking Repertoire for White
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627122005/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen66.pdf
Chess Openings for White, Explained by Alburt, Dzindzichashvili & Perelshteyn (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627032909/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen89.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626210017/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen132.pdf
http://www.theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/good...good...good...disastrous
The King's Indian attack - Move by Move by GM Neil McDonald (2014)

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7277.pdf
Starting Out: King's Indian Attack by John Emms (2005)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627034051/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen81.pdf
The Complete c3 Sicilian by Evgeny Sveshnikov (2010)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626234618/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen141.pdf

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/944.pdf
How to Beat the Sicilian Defence by Gawain Jones (2011)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626195254/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen147.pdf

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/6085.pdf
Starting Out: Closed Sicilian by Richard Palliser (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626175558/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen87.pdf
The Grand Prix Attack by Evgeny Sveshnikov (2013)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140626232217/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen171.pdf

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/979.pdf
Mayhem in the Morra by Marc Esserman (2012) https://web.archive.org/web/20140627043409/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen160.pdf
The Rossolimo Sicilian by Victor Bologan

https://web.archive.org/web/20140626195254/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen147.pdf

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/952.pdf
Rossolimo and Friends by Alexei Kornev (2015)

http://gainesvillechesstraining.com/?page_id=393

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7501.pdf
The Modern Anti-Sicilian: 1.e4 c5 2.a3 by Sergei Soloviov (2014)

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7393.pdf
A Chess Opening Repertoire for Blitz and Rapid by Evgeny and Vladimir Sveshnikov

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9020.pdf
Coming soon:
Playing 1.e4 - Sicilian & French by John Shaw

gingerninja2003

Jul 2, 2017

0

#3

1. d4 is the best if you really hate the sicilian.

FrogCDE

Jul 2, 2017

0

#4

The Grand Prix is sound - not the best line against the Sicilian but very playable at club level, with good attacking chances. I've tried most of the anti-Sicilians, apart from the Alapin, which I don't really take to, and the gambit lines, which are not my style, with pretty similar results. I tend to use 2.c4, transposing to a Botvinnik English, these days.

ProfessorPownall

Jul 2, 2017

0

#5

The solution is simple: 1, e4 c5 2. d4

Enough said

Khalayx

Jul 2, 2017

0

#6

As a long-time Sicilian player who haughtily laughs (in my head) any time an opponent dodges the Open lines against me, I would say the Bb5+ (against 2...d6) would result in the briefest, least smug laugh. So go with that.

--- I am googling around a bit to make sure I'm not giving you bad advice, and have discovered that what I have been calling the Rossolimo for 10+ years is not, in fact, the Rossolimo. In any case you should at least check into 3. Bb5 against both 2...Nc6 and 2...d6 and see if they might suit your tastes. Probably I have managed to undermine my credibility in record time, but in all seriousness these are very good ways to avoid the main lines.

NM dpnorman

Jul 2, 2017

0

#7

Bb5

MayCaesar

Jul 2, 2017

0

#8

I play Alapin and closed Sicilian as white (a bit tired of saying this in every thread like this ). Alapin is harder to play and it gives black a lot of counterplay, but it does give white a consistently strong center. As far as closed Sicilian goes, it is very easy for black to equalize there, but the benefit is that you get a nice positional game instead of a barrage of tactics, and positional game isn't what people play 1. e4 c5 for, so you also knock your opponent off his comfortable chair and force him to fight on your ground.

1. e4 c5 2. f4 is also interesting, a Dutch-like structure with extra tempo. I don't know this variation very well, but those few games I tried it in went pretty well.

Finally, there is the weird 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 and 3. b3. Can't really comment on that, my games with it weren't smooth, but it does have potential.

1. e4 c5 2. b4 is also playable, but it's probably just as sharp as Dragon, if not more so, so it's not as much an anti-Sicilian as it is an anti-3...cxd4 Sicilian.

pdve

Jul 3, 2017

0

#9

Lawkeito wrote:

I've been playing e4 as recomended for my level of play, but the sicilian is too hard to beat.

Black has too many plans, threats and options, meanwhile as white we have a theoretical attack but that is too hard to implement, since the sicilian has no weak squares (shvenigen).

I've heard the grand prix is not sound. Is the 2.c3 a good option ?

The sicilian is notoriously difficult to play at novice level(for black) and needs a lot of knowledge.White's attacking plans are many. Learn some theory and get a basic idea of how white prosecutes his attack when

1.He has castled kingside and

2.When he has castled queenside.

kindaspongey

Jul 3, 2017

0

#10

"... There is no doubt in my mind that if you really want to test the Sicilian then you have to play the main lines of the Open Sicilian. The problem is that there are just so many of them ... and keeping up with developments in all of them is a substantial task. ... as you become older, with other demands on your time (family, job, etc.) then it becomes more and more difficult to keep up with everything. At this stage it may make sense to reduce your theoretical overhead by adopting one of the 'lesser' lines against the Sicilian: 2 c3, or the Closed Sicilian, or lines with Bb5. ..." - GM John Nunn in part of a 2005 book where he discussed a 1994 game in which he had played 2 c3.

Lawkeito

Jul 3, 2017

0

#11

I appreciate the responses, thank you guys, I'll try to apply the advices I think suits me. Very interesting the Idea of transposing into the english

Lawkeito

Jul 3, 2017

0

#12

I appreciate the responses, thank you guys, I'll try to apply the advices I think suits me. Very interesting the Idea of transposing into the english

MickinMD

Jul 3, 2017

0

#13

I've reached good, playable middlegame positions from the Alapin (2c3) Sicilian and have been looking at the Rossolimo/Moscow (2 Nf3 d6 3 Bb5+) Sicilian and have just played the Moscow for the first time in a daily game. Depending on how hot you want to make it early, you can play 0-0 to be a little safe or charge right into a Maroczy Bind-like or position or force Black with c4 and an eventual d4.

I also considered the Closed Sicilian, where White often grabs a lot of space early in the game - especially on the K-side, but I haven't been able to make that work for me in practice games.

adrianvansin

Jul 3, 2017

0

#14

You should purchase My First Chess Opening Repertoire for White by Vincent Moret

FM chuddog

Jul 3, 2017

0

#15

If you're scared of any opening, you will not improve. It doesn't matter if you play some anti-Sicilian, or 1.d4, or whatever. The attitude of "the sicilian is too hard to beat" means you've already lost before you've played the first move. And it doesn't matter if your opponent even plays the Sicilian.

Practice facing different openings, dive into it with no fear, and learn from your mistakes. If you lose, use it as a learning opportunity. Sure there are plenty of sound anti-Sicilians, but you'll learn a lot more and become a better player by playing the open Sicilian and figuring out how to get good games against all the various lines. It's a very rich opening, full of learning opportunities.

Here, check this out. This is me as a 15-year-old kid, playing the open Sicilian against legendary IM Emory Tate:

https://chess-db.com/public/game.jsp?id=2010046.2001365.70444032.19800

We go at each other, guns blazing. NO FEAR.

Lawkeito

Jul 3, 2017

0

#16

Thanks, what you say makes sense, I think I'll just face the open sicilian for now.

kindaspongey

Jul 3, 2017

0

#17

"... Putting a repertoire together against the various Sicilian lines has for many people ... been a major nightmare. ... No wonder that so many people have switched to the relative simplicity of the 2 c3 Sicilian or for that matter the Closed Sicilian ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2003)

"... Two-thirds of this book deals with 'Open Sicilian' positions, in which White plays 2 Nf3 followed by 3 d4. This is by far the most common way for White to meet the Sicilian. White opens more lines for his pieces and attempts to exploit the fact that he will be ahead in development.

Let's take a look at the possible opening moves 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 ... . White is up in development and can move his pieces more freely. Black, however, has a structural advantage of an extra central pawn, which gives him long-term chances of taking control of the centre. A typical imbalance has arisen. The onus is on White to exploit his lead in development in order to secure an early initiative. If White plays passively or his initiative runs out of steam, then typically it's Black, with the better pawn structure, who enjoys the long-term chances. Thus it's quite rare for a state of 'dull equality' to arise. Often in the Sicilian, if Black 'equalizes', he is already slightly better! This structural advantage is seen in most Open Sicilian lines: for example, the Dragon, the Najdorf, the Scheveningen and the Classical Variations. The major exception to this rule is the Sveshnikov Variation, in which Black accepts pawn weaknesses in return for activity. ..." - GM John Emms (2009) in Starting Out: The Sicilian, 2nd Edition

"... [1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6] Almost everybody plays [3 d4]. But isn't this a positional error? I am not joking. I like my center pawns, and I like a [d-pawn] better than a [c-pawn]! I know that sometimes White sacrifices a Knight on [d5] or [e6] and smashes Black before he can castle, but in those games where this has been done, haven't improvements always been found for Black afterwards? Well then, isn't [3 d4] something like a cheap trap? I know it can be combined with purely strategical ideas, but I find it easier to discuss strategy when I have an extra center pawn! I cannot explain where I first got this idea, but I had it before I was Danish Champion and regularly playing [3 Bb5+]. ..." - GM Bent Larsen (1974)