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BeatingtheAnti Sicilians Excerpt
BeatingtheAnti Sicilians Excerpt
Vassilios Kotronias
Quality Chess
www.qualitychess.co.uk
Preface
Dealing with the Anti-Sicilians has never been a trivial task for chess players and writers alike.
One has to be ready for a wide spectrum, which varies from boring to surprisingly dangerous, and
this diversity is extremely hard to cope with, especially if you are not armed with sound positional
knowledge.
I believe that this book divulges as much of this positional knowledge as I am able to offer;
while at the same time contributing to the development of opening theory. I tried to create a
universal weapon, paying attention to both tactical and positional mechanisms, and I sincerely
hope that this attempt has paid off, but this is ultimately for the reader to judge. An important
consideration was to reduce Whites options and suggest lines that could be viable irrespective of
the Sicilian system one plays as Black, and whenever possible I tried to make the repertoire choice
work in this manner.
As the reader will notice, it is the 2.c3 and the 3.b5() Sicilians that take a lot of the space in
this book, and this is not surprising as they are both quite popular. The means I used to combat
them adhered to the rule one tool for many purposes. In the first case, by suggesting a system
based on ...e6, I complied with the needs of the move order 1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.c3.
In the latter case I chose a set-up including both ...c6 and ...d6 on moves 2 and 3 making
the line accessible to various types of Sicilian user. These systems require tactical mastery, and
there is a slight disadvantage that one has to be aware of: sometimes castling is delayed, bringing
whatever dangers this may incur. On the other hand, it is probably for this reason that they offer
better winning chances than other set-ups, as Black aims for the best possible structure before
resorting to safety. In this world, nothing comes for free.
One point to note is that I cover the Morra Gambit in Chapter 19, via the move order 2.f3 g6
3.d4 cxd4 4.c3, rather than in the Various 2nd Moves section.
Of course, this book includes practically all Anti-Sicilians, and there are other dangerous systems
to cope with. I am particularly happy with the results of my work in the system 1.e4 c5 2.f3
c6 3.c3. The Sveshnikov is a line a lot of people want to play as Black, and my suggestion of
3...e5 coincides with the choice of Sveshnikov himself. It has been postulated that this big hole
on d5 is something that denies Black winning chances, but this is a rather simplistic assessment,
as the reader will notice by going through Chapter 12.
I would like to thank my editors, and wish all my readers many creative achievements in battling
the Anti-Sicilians.
Vassilios Kotronias
Athens, November 2015
Contents
Preface 3
Key to symbols used & Bibliography
6
Various 2nd Moves
1
Rare Options
2
2.g3 and 2.d3
3 2.b3
4
Wing Gambit
7
24
39
56
c3 Sicilian
5 Introduction
77
6
Rare 5th Moves
96
7
Various 7th Moves
107
8 7.c4 136
9 9.e2 156
2.c3 c6
10
Tiviakov Grand Prix
175
11 3.ge2 193
12 3.f3 204
13 6.g5 224
14
Grand Prix Attack 5.c4 246
15
Grand Prix Attack 5.b5 259
Closed Variation
16
Various 6th Moves
290
17 6.e3 311
18 6.f4
327
2.f3
19 2...g6
20 2...e6
21 2...d6
342
353
368
2.f3 c6
22 Introduction
395
23
Rossolimo 4.d4
407
24
Rossolimo 4.xc6 435
25
Rossolimo 4.00
460
Variation Index
489
a pt
er
96
Ch
c3 Sicilian
Rare 5th Moves
Variation Index
1.e4 c5 2.c3 f6 3.e5 d5 4.f3
4...e6
A) 5.c4
97
B) 5.a3 98
C) 5.g3 c6 6.g2 d6 7.exd6 xd6 8.00 00
100
C1) 9.a3 100
C2) 9.d4 cxd4 10.xd4 xd4 11.xd4 c7 12.d2 d7
13.e4 e5 102
C21) 14.d3 103
C22) 14.c5!? 104
15...f6!N
13...b5N
19...ac8!N
4...e6
This provides us with a universal system
against c3 Sicilians. It is a solid move:
supporting the d5-knight and preparing to
castle quickly.
At this point there are several less popular
alternatives worth mentioning. I will only
make a brief report of what I consider
essential, to arm readers sufficiently for their
tournament games. This chapter will cover
A) 5.c4, B) 5.a3 and C) 5.g3.
5.d4 is covered in the next three chapters.
5.b4?! is an extravagant gambit which Black
does best to accept. After 5...cxb4! 6.c4 c7!
7.d4 d6 8.exd6 xd6 9.d3 c6 10.00 e7!
White has no real compensation for the pawn.
After 5.c4 I have analysed the move 5...b6!
in detail, concluding that Black has a good
game. However, in an ...e6 based repertoire
like the present one, it would be a waste of time
and energy to devote space to it. The simple
5...d6 6.d4 cxd4 7.cxd4 is a direct transposition
to our main line, featured in Chapters 8 and 9.
97
A) 5.c4
15...d5!?
98
c3 Sicilian
21...b6!
6...c7!?
This move, covering d6 and intending
...b5, was the reason I decided to refrain from
offering 5...d6. It leads to intriguing play, with
excellent chances for Black.
99
12...c4!
This move is the point of the whole
operation. White has to either undouble our
pawns or stay with his king in the centre.
7.d4
The obvious continuation. Black has no
reason to worry after: 7.a4 b6! 8.xb6 axb6
9.d4 cxd4 10.cxd4 d6 11.b5 d7= With
comfortable equality.
13.xc4
After 13.e3 b4! 14.b3 a6! 15.h4! g6
16.f4 e7 17.f3 d6 18.d2 b8 Black has
successfully completed his development and is
at least equal.
13...dxc4 14.00 b7
Black may even be slightly better at this
stage.
15.e1 e7
15...c8!?N looks like a good way to play
for the full point.
c3 Sicilian
100
101
13.e2!?
A friend pointed out to me that White can
already play 13.a5 here, when I think one
possible reply for Black is:
c3 Sicilian
102
20...g5!?
20...c6!?N 21.b3 a6!, intending ...b5,
seems to lead to an advantage for Black.
21.f3 g7 22.b3 g4 23.h4 c6 24.a5
h8 25.axb6 axb6 26.fe1 b5
Black was doing fine in Chopin Bertrand,
corr. 1994.
C2) 9.d4
103
14...a6=
This natural move has been tested in a
number of games.
14...ad8 adheres to the rule of placing a rook
opposite to the enemy queen. Efim Petrovic
Geller used to tell me how important this rule
is in chess, and I must admit that this and
other teachings of his, no matter how simple
they may appear now, significantly helped me
to evolve as a player. After 14...ad8 I analysed
several possibilities for White, concluding that
none of them offer the first player any chances
for an advantage. What follows is a summary
c3 Sicilian
104
105
106
c3 Sicilian
Conclusion
This chapter dealt with less common 5th move
tries for White after 1.e4 c5 2.c3 f6 3.e5
d5 4.f3 e6. The most dangerous of these
is 5.g3, where the first player hopes to take
the game away from well-trodden theoretical
paths. After the further continuation 5...c6
6.g2 d6 7.exd6 xd6 8.00 00 Black no
longer has to worry about Whites central
e-pawn, but he should still proceed with care.
There are several positional ideas that Black
should familiarize himself with, but the second
player can look forward to a safe game with
chances to play for more.