What sicilian should i play?

I'm now looking for an opening for black against 1.e4 as four knights sicilian became kinda boring for me, and i want to learn another sicilian. I'm sure it needs to be a sicilian, as i did consider other option and got to a conclusion that i want another sicilian.

I don't want something way too sharp like the dragon or taimanov (which usually results in sharp english attack positions), but sicilians that avoid these variations like kan or scheveningen feel too passive for me.

I'm looking for something that is not too sharp and dangerous (where you can lose the game in one inacuracy), but something which won't be too passive, and most important fun to play.

What do you suggest?

You are mis-assessing the various Sicilians.

Just because an "English Attack" is possible doesn't make it sharp or "one move and you die" type positions.

I think you should reconsider your assessments because they are very inaccurate.

For example, the Sicilian Scheveningen is very sharp just like the Najdorf and Dragon are.

The Taimanov, while White can play an "English Attack" is not very dangerous.  It might be slightly sharper than the "Main Line Taimanov", or what is also often known as the "Long Variation", it's nothing compared to what White gets in the English Attack against the Nadjorf.

Here's how the various Sicilians would be assessed:

High Risk/High Reward:  Najdorf, Dragon, Scheveningen

Passive:  Kan

Positional and Slow, but Safe:  Kalashnikov, Sveshnikov

"Middle of the Road", where one move doesn't kill you, but you have life in your position:  Taimanov, Accelerated Dragon

Weak/Bordering Unsound:  Pin Variation, The new line with 2...e6 and 4...Bc5 (can't recall it's name)

I would reconsider if I were you and look at either the Taimanov or Accelerated Dragon!

From what you say taimanov does seem sound, but as i looked at many games in the english attack, white ultimatley chooses to go for f3-Qd2-long castle kind of setup, and these positions are extremley sharp. Is there anyway to avoid this setup, or get to non-sharp variations?

I might also add that a few years ago, a repertoire book on the Taimanov was titled "The Safest Sicilian", while another on the Najdorf was titled "The Sharpest Sicilian".

I actually play 2 different Sicilians - precisely those two, but not via those 2 books.  The Taimanov is a lot safer than you make it out to be.  There may be sharp moments, but there are sharp moments in the Colle System.  It general, it's far more positional and far fewer tactics than say, the Najdorf or Dragon.

While opposite side castling is possible, it's less sharp than the Najdorf English Attack.  The advancement of the pawn structure of e6/d7 is vastly different than the Najdorf, which is d6/e5.  With no attack on the a2-g8 diagonal, it doesn't have the same punch.

Also, I only get the English Attack maybe once out of every 5.  Much more common is the main line.

If you give it a serious study and not just write it off because of the words "English Attack", you would see the major difference.

It's just like say, the Maroczy Bind position.  It doesn't have the same punch against the Taimanov as it does against the Accelerated Dragon.  With ...g6 pushed in the Accel Dragon, ...e6 is very weakening to the dark squares.  Because the pawn needs to stay on e7, d5 becomes a useful square for a Knight.  With the Taimanov, with no ...g6, ...e6 makes d5 unavailable to White, and so it's a lot harder to attack.

Knowing these little differences is critical.

Good analysis. You must play 1.e4 with white.

I'm obviously not counting out the taimanov, i just want to ask to make sure.

I don't know if it is really that sharp, but iv'e seen quiet a number of games in the english attack, and all of them were very sharp kind of games.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but white can pretty much force this move order in the taimanov:

As far as i know the move here for black are only Be7, Bb4 and Maybe Nxd4, and all of them will result in a setup with f3-g4 and a raging kingside attack. Can you give me an example of a variation where it doesn't happen, or at least try to show that it's different and less sharp than the dragon yugoslav for example?

Yes, I do play 1.e4, but that's not really why I know this.  I have played many Sicilians as Black, and I don't play the Open Sicilian against everything now-a-days.  As White, I play:

5.f3 (Prins) against 2...d6

Straight up Open Sicilians against 2...Nc6 (Accel Dragon, Kalashnikov, Sveshnikov, Taimanov)

King's Indian Attack against 2...e6

I have played many of these as Black as well, and the Taimanov and Najdorf are amongst my current defenses to 1.e4.

In Starting Out: The Sicilian, GM John Emms (2009) introduces a lot of possibilities.

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627122350/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen123.pdf

"The Taimanov System ... suits well my style and it brought me good practical results. Another cause of my successes was that my opponents lacked clear models to follow since the variation was not popular at top level. ... However, the second edition of The Safest Sicilian brought about a burst of popularity of my pet system. ... I had to accept deep theoretical disputes in every game. ... I began my migration toward the Kan. ... The play is not forced and both sides have tons of options on every move. This greatly reduces the chance of being caught on a home preparation." - GM Alexander Delchev (April 2014) in The Most Flexible Sicilian

In the Yugoslav Attack, Black completely abandons the Kingside, except maybe ...h5, and White goes all over Black's King, and often sacrifices to mate Black.

It's not that smooth sailing for White here.  Here's a prime example:

Games like this are far more encouraging than watching Black get smashed in a Dragon Yugoslav Attack, and watching White execute in Fischer fashion - Sack! Sack! Mate!

Prins is bad if black knows what to do. I've played this before, against weaker players, and they were clueless.

I would like to see your KIA against 2 ... e6.

@ OP

If you are scared of a Yugoslav Attack & English Attack set up.

Than I would recommend the Accelerated dragon, Hyper-Accelerated Dragon, or The Sicilian Kan.

All of the above lines are favorable for black if white plays those set ups.

If I remember correctly I think if white trys for English Set up in the Sicilian Kan he gets crushed.

Unless someone has came up with a way for white to survive.

However, I haven't heard of any discovery so as far as I can gather its still bad for white to play that way.

Don't get me wrong there are lines with 5.Nc3 but after 5...Qc7

White will not play 6.Be3

You will see lines with like 6.Bd3, 6.Be2, 6.g3, 6.f4, or 6.Qf3

Other lines you will see will be at move 5.

5.Bd3, 5.c4, or 5.Be2

None of them will be like the Yugoslav Attack & English Attack set up.

However, The Sicilian Kan will have other lines I mentioned which will be annoying.

Considering you don't know how the English Attack actually comes about this whole question is moot and you have more important things to worry about than the opening.

I like playing the KIA, Closed Sicilian or even the Open Sicilian 5.Nc3 - 6.g3 line

vs

2...e6 Sicilian lines

In fact, I have played Open Sicilian g3 lines in a couple of lines lol.

In the Najdorf the line is called Zagreb (Fianchetto) Variation

In the Scheveningen the line is called Fianchetto Variation

In the Classical the line is called Fianchetto Variation

I do mix things up though.

I try not to stay the same through out.

I play the Fischer Sozin sometimes vs Najdorf

I play the Yugoslav attack vs Dragon

Actually, I've had decent results in both the Prins and KIA, with only 1 bad loss in each in the last 6 months.

Great thread. I've been playing the Sicilian for about 5 weeks now and I love it. I know master class and above players scoff at the idea of low class club players playing this opening but I'm still in the learning/experimental stages of openings and I want to find something I'm comfortable with that specifically requires a lot of theoretical study. I enjoy studying the game.

I've been going with the Shev or the Najdorf. I prefer the Najdorf but then again, I'm still very early in my studies and practice with this.

You forgot Classical.

as long as you understand every move or rationale for the move in each of the Sicilian variations, you should be fine

I choose the Sicilian Scheveningen, because there are a lot of model games ( really good ones like Kasparov Games) and I find it very easy to learn

"... one simply cannot play the [Najdorf Sicilian] safely without studying the complications and remembering a lot of concrete variations. If you are averse to doing this, or you have a poor memory, you are better off avoiding such lines." - FM Steve Giddins (2003)

"As a professional player, I participate in many opens. I need at least 7.5/9 for the first place so I have little margin for mistakes. ... It suffices to mention the 6.Bg5-attack with forced variations all the way up to move thirty or more, to understand my reluctance to use the Najdorf. ... The Dragon is even more unfit for a main repertoire. The same long narrow forced variations, many dead drawn endgames in some lines without h4, and on top of all - the unbearable sight of the d5-square, where one White piece replaces another. ... As for the Classical system, it has been sliding downhill for years. Now every one knows that White should choose the Rauzer attack 6.Bg5, castle queenside and enjoy the better position. ... The permanent hole on d5 makes the centre static and dooms the Sveshnikov to be poor on strategical ideas. ... GM Grischuk and many top players also think that the fame of the Scheveningen of the times of K-K matches has faded." - GM Alexander Delchev (2006)

"The Classical Variation is a solid and dependable choice for Black and has been used at the highest level by players such as Kramnik and Anand. One of its appeals is that on the whole it's slightly less theoretical than the Najdorf or the Dragon and so it requires less learning from the Black player." - GM John Emms (2009)

"... I will try to predict the future course of developments in the theory of the Sicilian, over the near future. ... The more deeply we study [the position after 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4], the more apparent White's advantage will become. The Polugaevsky Variation and the Dragon Variation will die out. The Paulsen and Najdorf Variations will survive longer, but they will face an unenviable fate: it will be hard for them to survive in the face of computer programs and multi-million game databases. ..." - GM Evgeny Sveshnikov (2014)

"... 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)

The November 2015 issue of Chess lists the top twenty openings compiled from a list of 1452 September games where both players were rated over 2400 Elo. One can not take position on this list too seriously because it is greatly influenced by how the openings are grouped. For example, all the Retis are grouped together, while English is separated into 1 ... c5, 1 ... e5, etc. Nevertheless, for what it is worth, the list reports 71 Slavs, 61 Caro Kanns, 56 Najdorf Sicilians, 56 Declined Queen's Gambits, 55 King's Indians, 49 Ruy Lopez Berlin Defences, 46 Nimzo-Indians, 40 1 ... c5 Englishes, 39 Queen's Indians, 37 1 ... e5 Englishes, 37 Gruenfelds, 31 1 ... Nf6 Englishes, 26 Kan Sicilians, 25 1 ... e6 Englishes, 24 2 Nf3 sideline Sicilians, and 24 Taimanov Sicilians.