Questions tagged [sicilian-defense]
The Sicilian Defense is the opening given by the moves 1. e4 c5, and it is one of the most popular replies to white's 1. e4.
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What are the consequences of an early a6 in the Sicilian?
Once I encountered an opponent who used a very early a6 in his Sicilian Opening.
[FEN ""]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6
What could have been his objective with this move and how should I have have countered ...
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Why is the Sicilian Defense considered hard to play?
I have been told never to play the Sicilian. It is a very complicated opening that even grandmasters aren't ever able to analyze and play well enough. But why, I ask?
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What is a good, aggressive response against the Sicilian Defense?
I would like to learn a good response against the Sicilian defense (in your opinion), for both blitz and slower games.
I am looking for a more aggressive response, since it fits best my style. ...
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Is the Grand Prix Attack a poor response to the Sicilian?
The Grand Prix Attack begins 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4. It is an anti-Sicilian for white that is popular among club players because playing it requires memorizing significantly less theory than the ...
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What is the idea behind playing 6.a3 in the Sicilian Najdorf?
What is the idea behind playing 6.a3 in the Sicilian Najdorf?
[FEN ""]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. a3
This seems to be getting popular at the highest level (e.g. yesterday/...
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How to best respond to an early black Qa5 in the Smith-Morra gambit?
I often play the Smith-Morra gambit. Recently I've been seeing black play an early Qa5, such as
[fen ""]
1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 Qa5 4. *
or
[fen ""]
1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. Nf3 Qa5+ 4. *
It ...
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How bad is 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. a3?
Is this move clearly losing for white? Chessgames.com shows 1 win and 2 losses for white only, and I could not find any other reference for this move.
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Are there good variations for White against the Sicilian that do not involve an early d4?
If White opens e4 and Black replies c5, that's the Sicilian defense. Typical next moves are 2. Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4, etc.
Are there good variations for White where he DOESN'T play d4?
I've heard ...
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Why is capturing the bishop in this position a blunder?
[FEN "r2n1rk1/pp1bppbp/1n4p1/q1N5/3P3N/PB2B2P/1P3PP1/R2Q1RK1 w - - 3 18"]
Why is Nxd7 a blunder in this position?
I think that once the light squared bishop comes to c6 it will become very ...
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Is the Sicilian Defense a good opening for beginners?
Just discovered the chess section of this website. This is my first question here.
I am a beginner chess player(rated about 1300 on the chess websites) and play mainly for recreation. For a long time,...
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Why is 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 b6 so unpopular?
Why is the Sicilian line with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 b6 almost never played at any level, nor considered in books and similar? It seems logical to me, and after the usual 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bb7, the Bishop is ...
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Najdorf Variation: strategy after taking poisoned pawn?
After
[FEN ""]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. e5 dxe5 11. fxe5
what are black's main strategic goals? As this is supposed to be ...
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Why does 6.Bg5 prevent 6...e5 in the Sicilian Najdorf?
In Gufeld's book, after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5!,
[FEN ""]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5!
he writes: "In this way White solves three ...
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Sicilian defense : what's the best answer to 2.Qh5?
I've seen one video on YouTube about the Sicilian defense and wanted to try it on a game. In this game, my opponent played 2. Qh5, trying to capture c5,and if b6 then Qd5 and rook is taken whatever I ...
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A disagreement between me and my chess engines
In a recent blitz game, I was playing as White and faced the Lasker-Pelikan variation of the Sicilian.
Things were not really going according to plan, I was down a Knight and facing obliteration. In ...
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Why does Black get away with giving White so many free tempi in the Sicilian?
Every child learns that piece activity is the most important principle in chess, which is why we should develop quickly in the opening and avoid unnecessary pawn moves (and start with 1.e4 or 1.d4, ...
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B50: Sicilian Defense 3. Bc4
First a bit of background:
I really like playing the Sicilian Defense as Black and it is my preferred choice of action against 1. e4. I prefer the Open Sicilian with Dragon and Najdorf being my ...
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Why almost nobody plays ...6...b5 in the Lipnitsky Najdorf?
[FEN ""]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4
After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 everybody plays 6... e6 and then ...b5. Is 6...b5 right now a mistake? I don't ...
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What is the current theoretical state for the Chinese Dragon?
I use this line a lot, as it tends to lead to interesting games, and I was wondering whether any advances in theory have been made here.
[FEN ""]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6....
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Good books to learn Sveshnikov Sicilian
I'm a club player around 2100 FIDE rating trying to learn the Sicilian Sveshnikov, with the black pieces, for long time controls (2 hours/game). What books do I need to read in order to learn this ...
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Why is an early e5 against a Yugoslav setup evaluated at +2.6 according to Stockfish?
I was looking at analysis on one of my games and found this variation against a Yugoslav attempt against the Sicilian Dragon which Stockfish 12 instantly says is +2.6 for white:
[FEN ""]
[...
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Why is 4...e5 not popular in the Smith-Morra Gambit?
When I encounter the Sicilian as White, I often will play the Smith-Morra Gambit. My opponent played 4...e5, but this does not appear to be a very popular move as there are only 2 games on www....
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Looking for a good and non main line variation against the Sicilian
I am looking for a nice variation against the Sicilian, which is a little bit aggressive but mainly not part of the main line like Nf3, d4, b4 or c3 after e4 c5.
The thing is, I don't want to learn ...
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Taking the knight on c6 in open Sicilians
Why is it generally uncommon (unsound?) for white to capture the knight on c6 in open Sicilians?
For example (this is just an example; I'm not referring to this specific position, but similar ...
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Can the Sicilian Defence be reached if White didn't start with 1. e4?
If white is not playing 1.e4, can you still play the Sicilian Defense or is it even called that in this case?
Also, after starting with the English Opening, can you only play Reversed Sicilian if ...
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Black castling long in the Sicilian
When and why does Black castle long in the Sicilian? What kind of strategies should both sides adopt in such games? What kinds of games does it give rise to, i.e. positional or tactical? Which players ...
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What's wrong with 4...e5 in the Open Sicilian?
I like to play 4...e5 in the Open Sicilian in my games, usually facing something like this:
[StartPly "8"]
[fen ""]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb3 Nc6
I do this to:
Chase the ...
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Is the following Knight sac in the Sicilian Najdorf justified?
[FEN ""]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Nbd7 8. Qf3 h6 9. Bxf6 Nxf6 10. O-O-O Qb6 11.e5 Nd7 12. Bc4 dxe5 13. Nxe6
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How to build a simplified Sicilian defence reperoire
I have been playing chess practically all of my life but during phases, I would play a lot for a couple of months and then spend a whole year without playing.
Right now I am in one of those phases ...
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Why do all e4-c5 variations only have a single name (Sicilian Defence)?
I was wondering why e4-e5 openings have different names depending on the next move, but Sicilian Defence continuations are all just variations of the Sicilian Defence. Is that because they are ...
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What to play vs. 1. d4 when Sicilian is my favorite defense?
I've been playing chess since my childhood however just recently got into chess very seriously and my online balance was approx. 90-60 out of 150 games and then I lost 25 games due to a broken phone. ...
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What are some of the main ideas in the Grand Prix attack?
I was looking at ways to improve my game by making it more sharp and be able to attack the kingside as quickly as possible, and I found a move that looks interesting called the Grand Prix Attack in ...
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4-2 vs 3-3 (only pawn) endgames arising from Sicilian/Anti Sicilian
I play Sicilian (mainly Najdorf) against e4. Sometimes (in anti-Sicilian or Sicilian openings) I end up with exchanging everything except 6 pawns.
So it becomes a 4-2 pawn (4 on the kingside) versus 3-...
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Why isn't the English Attack popular vs. the Sicilian Kan?
As title above states, why isn't the "English Attack" popular vs. the Sicilian Kan? I mean the White setup in the Open Sicilian with Be3, Qd2, f3 and eventually g4 and h4. As far as I know, it is ...
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An Aggressive Response (for black) against the closed sicilian?
I am look for an aggressive response to the closed sicilian (1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 ...) in which black has strong attacking and tactical chances against white. Most of the variations I have seen result in ...
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Accelerated Dragon, Modern Bc4 Variation (B35) 10.Ndb5!
After:
[FEN ""]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Bb3 a5 9.O-O d6
It appears 10.Ndb5 is difficult for Black to play against. I only found some games from 2008. ...
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In Bb5 systems against the Sicilian, why does White exchange their b5 bishop without playing a6?
Isn't White giving up too much, i.e. one tempo in the opening and the bishop pair, for too little, i.e. doubled pawns?
For example, after
[FEN ""]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6
Bc6 is the second ...
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How does one respond to 3.d4 after playing the Sicilian?
I was black in this game, and white went ahead and played 3.d4 even though I clearly had it guarded, however once played, white now has the queen as an additional defender, and the queen was able to ...
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The strength of Smith-Morra gambit
I am a beginning player in chess.(~1300 on chess.com/blitz: 5 and 10 minutes) And I mostly like to attack and favor fully open positions to closed and defensive. In response to e4, when the opponent ...
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Feeling cramped in the Najdorf
I played this game recently at a tournament, and lost pretty decisively. I thought about it a bit, and I think it's representative of something that happens somewhat often in my games when I play the ...
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What is the point of c3 in the Sicilian Alapin?
In the Alapin variation of the Sicilian, the game goes 1. e4 c5 2. c3. However, this sequence just blocks the b1 knight from its best square, and it doesn't develop anything. Both squares attacked by ...
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Is the Sveshnikov Variation a subvariation of the Lasker-Pelikan Variation?
Wikipedia says that the Sveshnikov Variation is :
[FEN ""]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5
While chesstempo says that is the Lasker-Pelikan Variation, and the Sveshnikov is strictly :...
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(How) should I avoid bishop exchange in Sicilian (Dragon) style setups?
I often play the Sicilian, and out of that, sometimes I end up in situations like the one below, when my dark square bishop is fianchettoed and my opponent is getting ready to get rid of my bishop (...
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Does the Yugoslav Attack refute the Sicilian Dragon?
I saw, some weeks ago, a video of the great GM Roman Dzindzichashvili, claiming that Sicilian Dragon is somewhat refuted, or at least it is a dubious system. I normally play the Grand Prix against the ...
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Introduction to the Sicilian
I am trying to work on my openings and start playing the Sicilian as a response to 1. e4 but I am slightly overwhelmed by the huge amounts of resources available. I am rated around 1850 FIDE and I ...
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1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 c5 — Sicilian Defense to King's Gambit?
[FEN ""]
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 c5
What's the refutation of Black's unusual third move, or anyway the best way to play against it? Which is stronger, the Open Variation 4. d4 cxd4 5. Bxf4, or the ...
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What is the Sicilian Cochrane Attack?
In my club and local tournaments, opponents playing White often do an early Bc4 when I start a Sicilian. Usually I begin an Old Sicilian, eg 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6. My opponents may play Bc4 on the 2nd, ...
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Why is taking the e4 Pawn considered risky here?
[FEN ""]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 b5 8.f4?!
Almost nobody takes the e4 Pawn with 8...b4, and then N or B takes e4. Is there a clear refutation by White, or is it ...
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Refutation of the Maróczy Bind, suitable for correspondence chess?
I've been meaning to develop my understanding of the Hyper-Accelerated Dragon (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6) as Black, mainly by playing a few correspondence games and working through deep positional analyses. ...
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What are some popular anti sicilians and what are their respective strengths and weaknesses?
I dislike the positions in the sicilian in which both sides kamikaze each other. What are some popular anti sicilians which will bring the black players out of their comfort zone?
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