Sicilian defence-Good or bad?

The Sicilian Defense is an opening that is sharp and tactical but is respected at the top levels as well. It is very variaton heavy and generally requires a high level of calculating strength to play.

Depends how you use it

The Sicilian is good when you want to make your opponent an offer he cannot refuse.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the Petroff. So they should play the Vienna or Scotch Four Knights! The Bishops Game is something I'd like to see played more at the top level, actually. Seems very interesting.

It's a technically sound way to offer counterplay, which sounds nice in itself, but the drawback is that it's very involved, theoretical, and you have to be sharp to parry white's blistering attacks in so many main lines. Althogh black gets healthy counterplay, at the amateur level I think it's alot harder to play and learn from the black side, because white's kingside attack is so strong and requires precise reactions sometimes.

 it's as good as the player playing it. for example, when i play it, it's not good. but when other people play it, it's good!

I prefer 5.d4, to be honest. I just swing into an easy Scotch Four Knights most of the time, since I played that from around day 1. When I do keep on the Petroff lines I don't score badly at all. I think the "drawish" reputation of it becomes clearer at the GM level, but in all the classes there are less games like that.

I agree with 100% of this. which is why I dont get why class players use it. GM Roman Dz. claimed there was nothing much in the Petrov that will help you learn about chess, and that GMs only used it to draw, so a class player using it doesnt make sense as theres not going to be draw.

Hmm, it's good-bad, but it's not evil.

Agreed with many of the above posts.  To add my own two cents, the Sicilian strikes me as very much a high risk-high reward type opening which requires real skill to play with consistant success.  If you play the opening poorly you can get blitzed off the board (it's happened to me too many times to count... ).  However, with this being said, black also has excellent chances at pulling out the win.  There's a reason it's so popular across all levels.

When I first started playing chess, all I knew was only the Sicilian opening. As black, I played very strongly but as white I had problems 'cos I was not familiar with other opening lines.

Soon, I started to learn other opening moves. Well, let's sum it this way. "Jack of all trade but master of none" is as good as nothing.

I don't consider myself having a profound knowledge of the Sicilian 'cos I'm still struggling to have a deeper understanding of the repertoires. But my understanding of Sicilian opening is very much better than any of my other opening moves.

Never go in against a Siclian when death is on the line.

I always here that its so complex. But all the openings are. Its kind of like reading a book on an opening and reading kasparov kramnik and Anand are experts in this opening. What opening aren't they experts in?

No, the sicillian is really complicated, there are so many pitfalls for black.

I would say there are normal openings, and the super sharp variety.

In normal openings, if you play an inaccuracy, you re slightly worse, in the sicillian, if you play an inaccuracy, you lose.

The Sicilian is good! There are some very complex positions and there are many sound variations, Dragon, Scheveningen, Classical, Najdorf, Poisoned Pawn, Taimanov, Sveshnikov, Kalashnikov, etc. Anti Sicilian lines such as 2. c3, 2. f4, 2. d4, 2. Nc3 and all the Bb5 and Bb5+ lines are just trying to avoid these, Sicilian players don't fear them! (ok well I'm a bit biased because I am a Sicilian player, but I still believe it's one of the most complex and exciting responses to 1. e4).

It is objectively best, but is subjectively bad for a lot of players. You had better be ready to face some berzerker attacks by white.

Check out the old way to face the Najdorf.

I don't know about objectively best, but you could say it's a very good bargain with black: you get a complex game yet it's sound, but of course you have to be up for it and I think since white is attacking the king at amateur level his position is easier to play.

Sicilian is good of course in a way that in is sound and it unbalance position, speaking about theory, i agree you have to spend some time on it, but compare it to open games, with ruy lopez, italian, scotch, kings gambit, 4knights, vienna game and many other tricky variations, not counting sidelines which force mass exchanges and completely symmetrical position, i definitely vote for sicilian, even "dull alapin" is far more interesting than many lines of the open game