It might be of interest to look at Starting Out: The Sicilian, 2nd Edition by GM John Emms.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627122350/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen123.pdf
What do you think is the best Sicilian variation for black?
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Oct 22, 2018
0
#23
The bast Sicilian defense is the white sides move you are trying to refute. No setup is perfect against every Sicilian line.
Oct 22, 2018
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#24
StinkingHyena wrote:
kaspariano wrote:
I play the lowenthal, not because is the best variation of the sicilian, but because it can be tricky if my opponent doesn't know it well enough to make good moves against it. You have to also know the anti-sicilians
Ahhh you cheeser, I play that too for the same reason! The number of times White has made it all the way h4 for the advantage, in otb and online...exactly once. They always get lost in the lines. Do you ever play an early d5 instead of qf6? Both are pretty nasty.
I don't play the Qf6 lines, I play Qe7 after the exchange of bishop for the Knight on d6. I think Qe7 is better than Qf6 which is what most people play following old theory.
Oct 24, 2018
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#26
@shadow_dragon_86 Here is the deal. There are many sicilians that you can choose from; it is simply a matter of personal choice. I used to play the Scheveningen(from the Taimanov move-order), but then stopped mid-tourney after realising that the English Attack for White would require move-for-move precision for Black(you have to start your counter-attack perfectly, and if not, you might get crushed as black), and realized that I didn't want that. I wanted to be aggressive, but not so dependent on every move like the Scheveningen can get. So, I switched back to 1.e4 e5 for some time while finding something good, when I was taught the Sveshnikov! I simply love it! Black can get aggressive, and while it requires a lot of theory(which I like) I have a good feeling while playing it, far more than while playing the Taimanov. What is your style? Are you positional? Najdorf or Kan, probably, extremely tactical(extreme, extreme), Taimanov; Aggressive, but willing for it to go both sides, while having loads of precision but less theory and more ideas? Scheveningen, probably! Sveshnikov, is quite similar to the Scheveningen, but there is no "English Attack" against the Sveshnikov, and I feel more powerful while playing it
Shadow_Dragon_86 wrote:
There are many Sicilian variations, but which is your favorite and/or the one you think is the best for black, and why?
Black can't choose the variation he wants to play becouse it's white who has the initiative.
I think Black has some choice if White goes for 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 and even more choice if White goes for 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4.
kindaspongey wrote:
I think Black has some choice if White goes for 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 and even more choice if White goes for 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4.
Yeah but I'm talking about best moves
"... 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. ..." - GM John Nunn (2005)
The Pelikan is full equal for black, that's the reason why 3.Bb5 is so popular nowadays
@Staples13 would say the alapin.
But I would say the Alapin is a close second, Sicilian four knights is what I like.
Oct 27, 2018
0
#34
Mick, posted on chess.com general forum 10.27.18
The best Sicilian Defense for each person depends on how many variables, including how much time you plan to use to study the variations and what your tactics/positional abilities and habits are.
If you have limited time for memorizing variations, something like Sicilian Kan (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 a6, book rec: GM John Emms, Sicilian Kan c.2002) may be best for you since there isn't a lot of theory.
Or, you may want to play the Sicilian that is "strategically simple" to understand as GM's Kolev and Nedev claim in The Easiest Sicilian (c.2008), based on the Sicilian Sveshnikov (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e5!?). It also explores answering the Rossolimo (3 Bb5) variation and some other “rare” lines.
Another book, The Safest Sicilian by GM Delchev and IM Semkov (c.2008), uses a line where names are often confused. It uses a “Sicilian Taimanov” which many authors call the “Sicilian Paulsen” which begins like but avoids the Sicilian Najdorf (which is defined by 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6) and recommends 5…Qc7, which 365chess.com’s Opening Explorer calls “B40 Sicilian, Anderssen Variation,” which prevents some tricky moves by White.
The Qc7 is a theme in 6 of the 9 chapters of the book, so it does present a unified theme of play. The book also has answers for anti-Sicilians and Karpov’s 3 Nb5 openings.
Personally, I’m a Caro-Kann player who is considering - at least for variety - trying the Sicilian Defense and don’t have time to memorize a lot of variations and I’m studying the Sveshnikov - I like Black trying to challenge in the center with his 2-center-pawn advantage. But I’m also going to study the Kan (a favorite of GM John Emms in his younger days) because of the lack of theory and Black’s waiting move, 4…a6, gives him an extra move to see what White plans to do.
In ANY case, most of these opening books usually do NOT address in detail openings like the 2 c3 (Alapin) Sicilian or the Closed Sicilian or the 3 Bb5 Sicilian, so you have to have a plan for handling them.
If you have time to memorize variations and the reasons behind them, you may want a variation where you are likely to know more than your opponent, including traps.
The Taimanov (defined here as the common English definition: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Qc7) according to IM James Rizzitano in The Taimanov Sicilian, “is one of the most flexible options for Black in the Open Sicilian. Black avoids committing himself to a rigid setup…This can lead to a great variety of central structures, and the player with the better understanding of Sicilian themes will often emerge victorious - Taimanov positions need to be understood well to be played well.
The “Pure Paulsen” and “Pure Taimanov” Sicilian variations: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Qc7 (Paulsen) or 5 Nge7 (Taimanov) are featured in The Taimanov Sicilian by FIDE Master Graham Burgess (c.2000) who notes EVERY world championfrom Tal onwards has played it as Black.
The Sharpest Sicilian 2012 by GM’s Georgiev and Kolev (c.2012) bases it’s themes on the Sicilian Najdorf (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6) and includes dealing with the English Attack against the Sicilian, the Moscow/Rossolimo (3 Bb5) and some other rare moves. It involves lots of variations and is over 300 pages long.
The Najdorf is popular and well-known by many and there are more variations to know - but it’s doable. Another book, The Easy Guide to the Najdorf by GM Tony Kosten (c.1999) goes into great detail as to how to respond to lots of White 6th moves in just over 100 pages and may be a good place to begin study. Of course, this book doesn’t present anything except the Najdorf and variations with White’s 6th move.
The Sicilian Dragon and Accelerated Dragon Variations are worth mentioning. Both are popular, well-known, and if White knows the Maroczy Bind variations well and you don’t, you’re in trouble!
But, in general, you’re not playing against masters often, so these potential swashbuckling defenses are worth a look. The easiest-to-study, give the ideas-behind-the-opening books I know are, The Sicilian Dragon by GM Gufeld and NM Schiller (c.2011) and Starting Out: The Accelerated Dragon by Andrew Greet (c.2008).
Finally, I’ve left out variations that don’t appeal to me now but may do so later. Two books that are worth a look to get a survey of what’s available in the Sicilian are Mastering the Sicilian by IM Danny Kopec (c.2002) which divides the variations into 7 groups: Dragon, Richter-Rauzer, Closed, Boleslavsky (including Najdorf), etc. It also looks at the c3. Closed, Grand-Prix, Bb5 and other White systems in brief detail.
An older book, How to Play the Sicilian Defence, by Levy and O’Connell (c.1987), groups the variations by features like: Positions with …e5, Bg5 Positions, Dragon Positions, Maroczy Bind, Little Center, and Closed Positions.
It depends if you are aggressive or not. If you are than you should play the Sveshnikov variation of the Sicilian defense. If you are not than play the Taimanov variation of the Sicilian defense. If you are both you should play the Najdorf variation of the Sicilian defense.
dragon, najdorf, pelikan
Dragon
Sveschnikov is probably the best sicilian theorically speaking.
Accelerated dragon is fine from a practical point of view if u are nothing wrong against Maroczi positions : moreover accelerated dragon is easy to learn and handle, compared to most sicilians.
I like [and do best with both sides] the classical Sicilian: Rauzer, Sozin, English attack, .... With Najdorf-it leads to sharper positions but with classical it's sharp enough for me and leads to positions where you can usually fight on longer even when behind. (IMO when the balance starts to tip in Najdorf positions it's often over soon.) It is also out of favor. I also dont mind playing black against Rossilimo, closed and Alapin.
I see the transposition now, thank you both. I normally play 4...e5 and after 5 Nb5 play either 5...a6 or 5...d6 depending on how I feel so dont see the bishop move (even though a6 has a more dubious reputation, I think that is based on the Neil McDonald book 'Winning with the Kalishnakov' and may be out of date, if my rather sketchy memory serves me correctly there have been some relatively recent games by strong GMs playing it).