The opponent who answers 1 e4 with an emphatic 1...c5 (The Sicilian Defence) is often looking for a fight. Such players can be highly theoretically prepared and itching to launch into their own pet variations after White has opted for the main lines with an early d2-d4. The Closed Sicilian is an ideal antidote to such aggression. In the Closed Sicilian an awareness of the strategies and plans is far more important than the simple memorising of variations.

Death to the 2.c3 Sicilian

When you are ready for a great fighting game in the Sicilian Defense, there are few things there are more annoying than facing the hatefully solid 2.c3 variation, the so-called Alapin Variation.

This is not a shady gambit but it is a weapon that has been used by several grandmasters, including World Champion Magnus Carlsen.

This book offers a full repertoire based on the Taimanov move order 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6! 5.Nc3 Qc7. It is especially effective against the English attack and early kingside pawn storms. However, the fianchetto 6.g3 and the Classical system with 6.Be3 a6 7.Be2 pose certain problems. I propose to meet them with the Scheveningen set-up ...d6. Thus we take the best of two different worlds.

New Ideas and Strategic Plans

The Rossolimo is the Anti-Sicilian that is by far the most popular with club players – and with elite grandmasters such as Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri, and Alireza Firouzja.

Opening Repertoire

The O’Kelly variation of the Sicilian Defence (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 a6) is a wonderful system for those who enjoy playing Sicilian positions but don’t want to get bogged down in heavy theory. The O’Kelly relies far more on an understanding of general strategic ideas and middlegame planning than on rote memorisation of opening moves

“I have always been interested by less theoretical Sicilians. I have been playing the Classical Sicilian for a long time and right before the covid period, I decided to find a new one. The Sicilian Kan came to me as a very serious option, and I decided to work on it. In the meantime, my friend and editor Daniel Vanheirzeele offered me the chance to author a book about it. This came to me as a complete surprise, as I had no experience with it.

This Sicilian Scheveningen Defense is a rich and complex opening that offers Black a mix of solid defense and dynamic counterattacking chances. Its flexibility allows it to be adapted to a wide range of situations, making it a popular choice for players of all levels.

The Sicilian Taimanov arises after the opening moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6, and is an ideal weapon for Black in the modern era. It is theoretically sound, and strikes a perfect balance between solidity and dynamic counterattacking potential, which makes it a popular choice among club players and top grandmasters alike.

Taimanov - Kan - Richter Rauzer
Understanding before Moving - Vol. 3/2

The first volume dealt with the Najdorf and Scheveningen variations, and it is now time to pay attention to three other extremely popular systems: the Taimanov, Kan and Richter-Rauzer variations.

After careful consideration within the Thinkers Publishing team, we decided that it made sense to group these variations together. In particular, the first two are closely related and share the feature that, in both cases, Black plays …e7-e6 and …a7-a6 at an early stage. They typically have the idea of retaining more options for their king’s bishop by postponing …d7-d6 (or even omitting it entirely.) The bishop may go to b4 or c5 in different lines.

B 00-B 49 (5. Auflage 2020)

Half a century ago the first edition of the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings was released, as a truly unique, ground-breaking tome. Such monumental work was a logical continuation to the Informant series which came to life a few years earlier. Chess Informant introduced a completely revolutionary system of chess signs, and also created the classification of chess openings, according to codes (ECO codes). Today Chess Informant’s ECO Codes and System of Signs are integral parts of the universal chess culture and heritage.

Sicilian Warfare is a practical guide to the most dynamic and ambitious defence against 1.e4, starting where opening theory ends and the middlegame begins. Ilya Smirin breaks down the strategic battle into easily understood elements and then looks at them in a dynamic setting

Alapin Variation

In the Alapin System White´s strategic idea is extremely simple. He prepares to advance with d2-d4, to build a solid pawn centre and then dictate the play. He will have to pay for this with the fact that his queen´s knight has been deprived of the best square for its development, but it may have other suitable squares (in many variations this will be not the d2-square but a3).

Opening Repertoire

The Sveshnikov Variation of the Sicilian Defence provides a battleground for one of the key conflicts in chess: structure versus activity. Black voluntarily accepts a weak pawn formation but in return obtains easy development and excellent piece activity. This is a line that finds favour with aggressive, attacking players who are confident in their tactical ability.

Kozul Variation - 2nd Revised Edition

Four years have passed since the first edition of our Richter-Rauzer Reborn book and if we look at the recent past, we can see that this variation of the Sicilian has been gaining more and more popularity and is very often seen in tournament practice.

The Sicilian Taimanov arises after the opening moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6, and is an ideal weapon for Black in the modern era. It is theoretically sound, and strikes a perfect balance between solidity and dynamic counterattacking potential, which makes it a popular choice among club players and top grandmasters alike.