Article: 13137 of rec.games.chess.misc Newsgroups: rec.games.chess.misc Path: info!dregis From: dregis@exeter.ac.uk (D.Regis) Subject: Re: Help! Need A Correct Sicilian Defense Book. Message-ID: Organization: University of Exeter, UK. References: <327BE311.728F@earthlink.net> Date: Wed, 6 Nov 1996 14:54:49 GMT In article <327BE311.728F@earthlink.net> mrerk@earthlink.net writes: >Hi, > >My Elo rate is 1600, and I have trouble playing my White against Black >in Sicilian Defense. For example, I am a little bit confused with the >Dragon Variation / the Yugoslav Attack. In other words, I have hard time >deciding to choose the best move during the middle game of the Dragon >Variation / the Yoguslav Attack as well as any other variations in >Sicilian Defense. You and me both... >My favorite playing style is positional one, and mine is somewhat >similar to An. Karpov's playing style. I tried the Closed Sicilian >several times, but I am not sure if I like it or not. You know that Karpov played the Closed Sicilian in the late 'sixties? Did well with it, but he was doing well with all sorts of openings. he used to play 6.Nge2. You can adopt a positional approach to each line of the Open Sicilian; although these are not terribly forcing they might suit your style. For example, you can try the systems with 6.Be2 or 6.g3 against every Sicilian variation. >So, please recommend any one best Sicilian Defense book for me. You don't know whether you like the Closed but still want us to recommend a book? If you ever decide you want to play the Closed, the most recent treatment is Gary Lane's Batsford title "Winning with the Closed Sicilian". Theory has moved on a bit since then, but the ideas are still the same. There is a chapter on 6.Nge2 which includes a few Karpov games. Another book which might suit your style, is Andrew Soltis' "Chamaeleon Sicilian" (Chess Digest). There is less theory on this line and less in the book, so you get fewer pages for your pennies. A simple answer is to say: play what Karpov does! Against the Dragon he has done well with a funny little line of the Yugoslav: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. g4 e.g. 9...Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Be6 11. O-O-O Qa5 12. Kb1 Rfc8 13. a3 Rab8 14. g5 Nh5 15. Nd5 Qxd2 16. Rxd2 Bxd5 17. exd5 with an ending that can be played for a win. Are your endgames as good as Karpov's? This line is covered in a book by Mednis called "From the Opening to the Endgame", but it doesn't cover other Sicilian lines. As far as I know there is no book on Karpov's treatment of the Sicilian for the 1600 player. You might borrow his "The Semi-Open Game in Action" which I think has some of his ideas in, but take a breath. This is a book I guess for 2000+. Another book to borrow might be John Grefe's "The Offbeat Sicilian": this is a compendium of relatively unusual lines which avoid the theory of the Open. A line that might suit you is the system with 1.e4 c5 2.c3. A book published recently which recommends this system: "An Opening Repertoire for the Attacking Club Player" (by Keene & Levy [Batsford]) There is no book called "An opening repertoire with 1.e4 for the dull positional club player", but one day I may write one. >If you >know the title of the correct Sicilian Defense book for me, please email >me at mrerk@earthlink.net You've got everyone interested now, so I'm going to post it instead. -- May your pieces harmonise with your Pawn structure and your sacrifices be sound in all variations D _ / "()/~ Dave Regis &8^D* WWW: http://www.ex.ac.uk/~dregis/DR/chess.html || \_/| = DrDave on BICS ~\ / "...what else exists in the world but chess?" _|||__SHEU: ~/sheu.html -- NABOKOV From info!dregis Wed Nov 6 15:06:34 GMT 1996