Why is the Sicilian so good?

I think that the Sicilian seems a little bit passive, not because it uses a wing pawn, but because in every game it goes like this:

It seems d6 and e6 are almost always played in the Sicilian. Why? The bishops look very passive to me, and activating them I think would be hard.

nice post, too true; avoid the sissy-lician

Black has 2 pawns in the center instead of 1. he must be better longterm. Shortterm white has pretty good development

Too much theory Girl.  Sis-silly-ian

The most common continuation looks aggressive:

7. f4 Be7 8. Qf3 Qc7 9. O-O-O Nbd7 10. g4 b5 (White threatens to batter Black’s Kingside with a barrage of pawns, while Black eyes down on the Queenside, where White had castled, waiting for the perfect opportunity to pounce, but also keeping a grip on the center.

It’s hard to see this position ending peacefully, as what comes next will require extremely precise maneuvering from both sides. Both sides are practically on the verge of killing the other.

I don’t play the Sicilian much, but partially because the positions are too complicated. There’s too much precision required and not much room to make error.

I agree that most Sicilians are passive, from the black side. White usually gets so much initiative and black has to defend for most of the game

This is a common complaint from people who don't know how to play defense.

In the Open Sicilian, White holds the short-term trumps (a time advantage, a space advantage, a centralized Knight, better development) and Black holds the long-term trumps (two center Pawns vs one, better organic Pawn structure, a perfect Minority Attack situation on the Q-side, superior open file for attack).

All Black needs to do is neutralize White's opening edge and he will automatically take control of the game.

The Najdorf Sicilian isn't something that can be understood at a mere glance. You have to go through the actual lines, to understand the reasoning behind each move. It also helps to learn some of the common ideas and strategies.

A good starting point, for the uninitiated, would be the book: "Starting Out: The Sicilian Najdorf" by Richard Palliser.

This particular variation is also covered quite extensively in: "Play the Najdorf: Scheveningen Style" by John Emms.

The Grand Prix Attack is what it deserves. Only ... a6 slows it down.

It's utterly ridiculous to award e6 a dubious sign. Never thought I'd see that one...

I meant that it looked dubious to me, not that it was dubious. To show that e6 was the confusing move to me.

Sicilian has hidden defensive resoruces pawns e6, d6 is potentialy mobile , often Black can attack e4 pawn and open bishops with timely execute d6-d5 pawn thrust. Black setup is very compact and with no real weaknesses .And also have Black chances for active Play.