Talk to me about the Sicilian. - Chess Forums - Page 2

kindaspongey

May 16, 2018

0

#21

imsighked2 wrote (~12 minutes ago) (emphasis added):

I'm goofing off at work. The book is on the second shelf in my living room with all my other chess books. ...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

IMKeto

May 16, 2018

0

#22

BobbyTalparov wrote:

imsighked2 wrote:

You can bash me for my rating, but it was 986 two years ago, so I am improving. I'd rather put in the work and learn the Najdorf.

Nothing against the Najdorf (it is my preferred defense as black), but I would suggest that you might see faster improvement by spending less time worrying about openings and more time working on other aspects of the game (specifically, tactics, opening principles, and endgames).

Sadly...it seems that many low rated players would rather sound like they know what they are doing, than actually know what they are doing.

imsighked2

May 16, 2018

0

#23

BobbyTalparov wrote:

imsighked2 wrote:

You can bash me for my rating, but it was 986 two years ago, so I am improving. I'd rather put in the work and learn the Najdorf.

Nothing against the Najdorf (it is my preferred defense as black), but I would suggest that you might see faster improvement by spending less time worrying about openings and more time working on other aspects of the game (specifically, tactics, opening principles, and endgames).

I've heard that before (don't study openings). I don't try to memorize openings. I generally try to learn 13-16 moves, just to keep me in the game and not fall for any tricks or traps. I probably do more work on tactics than anything (55,000 problems completed here and counting) and have been going through Silman's Complete Endgame Course, which really helped a lot. I've been winning with the Najdorf, so I'm satisfied with the switch, although I still have a lot to learn.

crazyoverlord

May 16, 2018

0

#24

Username333 wrote:

A rating of 981 after 32 years of chess suggests that playing the sicilian for a year and half is not working out that well for you.

Instead, consider playing 1. e4 e5! Here is a free resource to get you started. http://katar.weebly.com/black-vs-1e4.html

Its not really that significant in terms of my rating. I mainly play it against my Scriptwriting tutor who is rated about 1450 so even though he beats me every time I usually lose no more than one point. Most of my games are Owens or Italian Game. And I do ok. But my endgames are garbage. I often get into the endgame ok, but getting out of them I'm often happy with a draw. I'm not incredibly focused on building my rating to be honest. I mainly want to just broaden my knowledge. I have played Chess on and off the last 32 years, but its only the last five years I've been playing it regularly. I was Chess Champion of my final year Video Project...but you know...Actors aren't as tough as Mathematicians at such things...Mainly Chess is just an item in a long list of things people told me Id never even grasp the basics of, so from my perspective I'm doing ok. I will look into this opening though. Thanks for the tip

RoobieRoo

May 16, 2018

0

#25

pfren wrote:

FYI, I was exclusively plaing the Dragon as Black some 40- years ago. Then I gave up on it, not because it was unsound, but simply because I decided that maintaining it was not a practical idea.

gotta respect a Dragon player, not every one that has the baws to play it, too many 1.e4 e5 players, and Fenchies and people that eat bacon.

IMKeto

May 16, 2018

0

#26

robbie_1969 wrote:

pfren wrote:

FYI, I was exclusively plaing the Dragon as Black some 40- years ago. Then I gave up on it, not because it was unsound, but simply because I decided that maintaining it was not a practical idea.

gotta respect a Dragon player, not every one that has the baws to play it, too many 1.e4 e5 players, and Fenchies and people that eat bacon.

bacon??? did someone mention bacon????

crazyoverlord

May 16, 2018

0

#27

But this is a great discussion. I'm learning a lot.

RoobieRoo

May 16, 2018

0

#28

IMBacon wrote:

robbie_1969 wrote:

pfren wrote:

FYI, I was exclusively plaing the Dragon as Black some 40- years ago. Then I gave up on it, not because it was unsound, but simply because I decided that maintaining it was not a practical idea.

gotta respect a Dragon player, not every one that has the baws to play it, too many 1.e4 e5 players, and Fenchies and people that eat bacon.

bacon??? did someone mention bacon????

anyone can eat bacon, its not everyone that can eat spinach and broccoli though, man up and eat veggies and play the Dragon

IM pfren

May 16, 2018

0

#29

BobbyTalparov έγραψε:

What Magnus likes to play has very little (if any) impact on what Kramnik, Nakamura, Giri, MVL, Caruana, etc like to play. Some of them like similar openings; others like openings that few people play. Fabiano is one of the few players in the top 100 that plays the QGA as black - and the reason for that has nothing to do with the soundness of the opening.

And that Magnus patzer has played the Dragon quite a lot.

crazyoverlord

May 16, 2018

0

#30

I'm generally happy if no one gets to take my lunch money without a fight. But if I can talk my way out of it then that will do as well. So its good to talk about Chess. To paraphrase Bob Hoskins

crazyoverlord

May 16, 2018

0

#31

The two threads I started on this and Owens have been very helpful. Those are the two openings I have most experience of. I'm an inconsistent scholar and satisfied with modest returns. But I study broadly and link things together and put them in to each other and the various things I do with my life. But basically so far, I have defended well and averted having the shit kicked out of me all over town. My end games? Garbage. But I am beginning to have the vague start of knowing what I am talking about in a very narrow corner at least, so thank you everyone for your help

kindaspongey

May 16, 2018

0

#32

crazyoverlord wrote:

Username333 wrote:

... consider playing 1. e4 e5! ...

... I will look into this opening though. ...

Perhaps consider First Steps 1 e4 e5

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7790.pdf

and/or Discovering Chess Openings.

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf

kindaspongey

May 16, 2018

0

#33

crazyoverlord wrote:

... my endgames are garbage. I often get into the endgame ok, but getting out of them I'm often happy with a draw. ...

"... [Silman's Complete Endgame Course] has already caught on with the average player in a big way, confirming Silman's status as the king of instructional writers. He writes in a clear and casual style, and time and again has shown the ability to reach those who feel intimidated by the lofty approach that a grandmaster will often take. ..." - IM John Watson (2007)

http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/theres-an-end-to-it-all

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103149/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review594.pdf

kindaspongey

May 16, 2018

0

#34

"... the Dragon ... is the easiest [Sicilian] variation to understand the fundamentals. ... the Dragon is good at club level, but as you start facing better players you're going to find yourself memorizing tons of lines and the latest analysis, ... From my experience with coaching players below 1800, you don't need to do that too much. ..." - Pete Tamburro (2014)

IM pfren

May 16, 2018

0

#35

kindaspongey έγραψε:

"... the Dragon ... is the easiest [Sicilian] variation to understand the fundamentals. ... the Dragon is good at club level, but as you start facing better players you're going to find yourself memorizing tons of lines and the latest analysis, ... From my experience with coaching players below 1800, you don't need to do that too much. ..." - Pete Tamburro (2014)

Do you really care what a FIDE unrated player says?

For the record, this is one of the rare cases he is right, but on the other hand, in his (very bad) opening book for amateurs he suggests a lot of openings which require hard maintenance.

crazyoverlord

May 16, 2018

0

#36

kindaspongey wrote:

crazyoverlord wrote:

... my endgames are garbage. I often get into the endgame ok, but getting out of them I'm often happy with a draw. ...

"... [Silman's Complete Endgame Course] has already caught on with the average player in a big way, confirming Silman's status as the king of instructional writers. He writes in a clear and casual style, and time and again has shown the ability to reach those who feel intimidated by the lofty approach that a grandmaster will often take. ..." - IM John Watson (2007)

http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/theres-an-end-to-it-all

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103149/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review594.pdf

Good tip. Tanks

crazyoverlord

May 16, 2018

0

#37

DeirdreSkye wrote:

When people talk about Sicilian they usually mean Open Sicilian. All the rest have been classified as anti-Sicilians , a term that many don't accept(that's another discussion).

The first to know is that Sicilian is not one. There are many Sicilians and each one is different. If we attempt to do a general classification then the development of the dark squared bishop defines the line or the lines.

1.Dragon type

In Dragon lines(regular , accelerated and hyper accelerated) Black fianchetoes the bishop.

2.Scheveningen type

In Scheveningen lines the bishop remains on e7. It's less active there but it does a very important job , it protects the potentially weak d6.

3.Paulsen type.

In Paulsen/Taimanov/Kan Sicilian Black delays d6 and waits to see if he will have the chance to develop the bishop in a more active square outside the pawn structure. That seems to be better but it has several drawbacks. One of them is that white is often allowed to gain more space and better central control with c4 the other is that the absence of the bishop from e7 means d6 might become difficult to defend later.

There is one more classification depending on what Black will do with the e-pawn.

In this classification we have the Dragon family(e-pawn doesn't move) , the Scheveningen family(e-pawn moves to e6) and a new one , the Pelikan family(Black attempts to control d4 with a fast e5).

The drawback immediatelly becomes obvious: d5 becomes a strong outpost for white pieces. On the other hand , Black has easier development(Bc8 has now e6 available) and more space.

The good thing with Sicilian is that often Black can easily tranpose from one to another. For example , Najdorf can be a Pelikan type ,a Scheveningen type or even a Dragon type Sicilian!

Always with these really complete replies Deidre. Very generous. Thank you

kindaspongey

May 16, 2018

0

#38

IM pfren wrote:

kindaspongey έγραψε:

"... the Dragon ... is the easiest [Sicilian] variation to understand the fundamentals. ... the Dragon is good at club level, but as you start facing better players you're going to find yourself memorizing tons of lines and the latest analysis, ... From my experience with coaching players below 1800, you don't need to do that too much. ..." - Pete Tamburro (2014)

Do you really care what a FIDE unrated player says?

For the record, this is one of the rare cases he is right, but ...

It seems to me that there are many of us nonFIDE-rated players for whom the FIDE-rated world is of limited relevance.

kindaspongey

May 16, 2018

0

#39

crazyoverlord wrote:

I've been a Chess novice for 32 years. ...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

crazyoverlord

May 16, 2018

0

#40

I don't know what you mean by ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^?