the sicilian

what are the pros and cons of the sicilian defence post your replies

true very true

I have studied the sicillian for about a year and I have to say that once you learn the lines it can be powerful. I have gotten to the point that I can switch 1. d4 games into sicillian for black which might throw your opponent off his game. Early attacks are dangerous, you have to make sure your moves arent dangerous but once things get going and you have developed wisely you should have plenty of tactical opportunities involving your opponent's kingside (hince the "Defense in "Sicillian Defense"). I dont think I have ever had anybody castle queenside with me in the sicillian (not sure what it would offer my opponent) so the half open c-file would probably come into more play but usually the c-file isnt too important until the middle or endgame.

Defense from white you have to watch for is the marcozi bind (name suggested by my friend Wolfstriker) which cuts off black's kingside knight unless they choose to block their black bishop. I have found this to be very effective at defending against the sicillian. Actually I dont think I have lost a game in that particular setup yet but I only have a few games under those two openings in one game. The marcozi sets up usually a great kingside defense and unbelievable central control for the white squares. The c-file usually becomes the center of attention with rooks and white's knights.

For right now that is all I can think of but let me also say this...When I started using the sicillian "learning it" I was around 1400...I am now at 1719 and still use it. If anything learn a few lines in sicillian, and learn marcozi and your game should go up.

Even though I have tried before, dont use sicillian as white, either learn it for white or for black. It gets too confusing during the setup and defending from attacks seems to be very difficult. But I'm sure white can use it for me it is just too confusing...

As white you can either knuckle down and learn the theory of the open sicilian (I've found that 99% of the time at my level I've only faced the Najdorf and Dragon variations, it's still a fair amount of theory, but learning the main lines is pretty straight forward, and working out a plan for white against those main lines isn't a bad idea), or try to skip it with some anti-sicilians. The problem is, that if black plays accurately, those anti-sicilians will at most equalise. They can offer some really strong attacking chances for white (I'm currently studying the Grand Prix attack), but they can also fizzle into equality. Sometimes I find it more rewarding (enjoyment wise) to just play the open sicilian. It can make for a much tenser game.

At your level, opening study won't compare to an increase in rating because your opponents probably won't be following lines at all. Far better is to read through some simple information about the openings and get a feel for the opening in general. I found that the Starting Out... series of books were very good for this, the Sicilian one is very good, as is the Scotch. I would say concentrate on books which focus on tactics (ie puzzles, or even just tactics trainer on here), and game collection books so that you can see how games progress. In fact, studying recommended master games is a fantastic way to improve, especially if you know which ones have impressive opening play, middlegame play, and endgame play.

I just started to like the sicilian, I toutght it was bad and that it would only work out if white played kind of stupid and that it was overrated, but I'm starting to really like it! I just downloaded a book I'm going to give it a shot. It's more interresting then pushing back the king pawn. I think it will deffinitly be a major plus, if you know how to play it, it seems to be very effective.