Is sicilian defence playable for beginners?

im getting bored with e4 and d4 yes i want to switch openings for a change so is it possible to play sicilian defence? thankyou

evrething is playable but as a begginer you have to learn tactics end game how to make a plan this are most important things but the sicilian has a lot of theory you will win a lot and lose a lot but not because of youre mind because of some dead gm analyze ment

Beginners should definitely try the Sicilian defense, but as most have heard, it is very sharp(dangerous for both sides).  There is lots of theory (one of the most heavily analyzed openings) to learn if you want to play it in tournaments.  I am currently studying it again after having abandoned it many years ago after repeatedly getting severely mauled on the black side of it.  It seems to be more dangerous for black than for white.  But then again, if you absolutely need a win with black against 1.e4, or if you love wild unbalanced tactical posistions, this is probably the best bet.  Get "Starting Out: The Sicilian" by John Emms -- I love this book.

Not really. White gets huge development advantage in the sicilian defence and big attack, while it is difficult for beginners to play against it. Black has advantages like pawn majority in the center, but black has to know what he is doing. So just to sum up, white has to attack with his big development advantage, while black should be able to use his positional advantages. (pawn majority in the center, restrained white pieces) And it is no question that for beginners it is hard to use positional advantages.

But give it a try and you will see whether it is a good opening for you or not.

I'm a beginner who started last January. I've played the Sicilian defense against 1. e4 every time I got the chance. I went from 800 points to >1400 using it in these 9 months. The Sicilian is all I know against 1. e4, I don't have anything to compare it to, but I don't see what the problem is with using it as a beginner as I've been doing great with it.

Most of the time people don't go into open Sicilians. By far the most popular white response in the <1500 range is 2. bc4, or the "Bowlder attack". The other anti-Sicilians are also popular, and your likelyhood of playing against one of them is greater than getting an open Sicilian. If you do get an open Sicilian theory really isn't much of an issue, because if your opponent knew alot more theory than you about the Sicilian they'd probably be rated way above you and you wouldn't be playing them.  I play the dragon, and I find for example most people know to go into the basic Yugoslav attack scheme of be3, f3, Qd2, 0-0-0, etc, but they don't know much beyond that, they don't know about the differences between the three main 9th move alternatives and the d5 break, etc.

No it is not, End off!

It only suits players with a top class(or atleast intermediate) level.

It is very difficult for a beginner to play for only a defense, and fight back for the center and it will be very hard for the beginner to maintain the intiative, where a mistake is easily made, where the are holes etc.

I say, (If 1.e4) play "1. ...e5!" and study the hack out of it!... According to me, Your not yet ready to maintain the (sleepy) Sicilian defense.

(But play it if you like it for some reason or If you just believe in it. All the best If you play it.)

If you play the black side of the Sicilian, you have to comfortable not castling, which can be tough. You have to know what pieces go where and why. When to trade the knight for the light squared bishop, etc.  I stick to the easy stuff, like the French.

What do you mean about not castling? I've played over 1,500 Sicilian games from the black side and I've never found castling to be an issue with the opening.

The Sicilian is way too difficult for a beginner.  Should play something like 1. e4  e5.  A beginner has lots to learn and should not be bogged down in advanced concepts.

Like I said Ponz, as long as you're playing people roughly equal to you (give or take 100 ELO points) theory isn't an issue.

Primarily because around the level of the OP and myself, when you play 1...c5 most of the time you're not entering into an open Sicilian game, instead you're entering into a 2.bc4 game, which gives black equality within a few moves with minimal theory needed.

Second, even if you do go into an open Sicilian, if your opponent knows a lot more theory than you about it then they'd probably be a lot higher rated than you and you wouldn't be playing them to begin with.

If you're playing against another beginner, it rarely matters what opening you play.

If you want to improve than playing Sicilian against beginners while being a beginner yourself may be a waste of time. At this level your opponent is not going to play this opening reasonably and you can end up with incorrect impression of how white can punish incorrectly played Sicilian.

Regular open games 1.e4 e5 or openings like the Scandinavian or French are easier to understand and more likely to teach you something valuable because both the players are likely to comprehend what is happening on the board even when both are beginners.

From my own experience - I started with the Sicilian at the 1800 level and finally broke FIDE 2100 barrier while my friends who experimented with difficult openings are still below 1800 and not likely to go higher because of their age.

Learn easier things first, practice them, improve and then go to the more difficult subjects - this works best in many fields, not only chess. I prefer mastering easier things than become an experienced patzer in difficult ones!

If you're playing someone equal to you as well.

As for beginners, I think playing the Sicilian is actually the best opening. Just the psychological statement of not copying your opponent with 1...e5. 1...c5  sends a message right from the beginning "I'm not going to copy you because what you've done is inferior and I can do something better". There are also a ton of IM and GM Sicilian games online (I'd say more than for most other openings) that you as a beginner can look at and learn from.

I play the Dragon which is said to be the most theoretical of Sicilian variations one of the most theoretical openings in chess. Yet the theory doesn't seem that demanding to me. It's a bit of an overstatement to say that the Sicilian has a lot of theory, just play the opening and you'll gradually learn it.

I've played the Sicilian since I started and I impoved 675 elo points in 9 months.

And it is not just beginners who play unsound things like 2.bc4 in response to the Sicilian. As you can see from this thread http://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-openings/why-have-i-been-encountering-the-bowlder-attack?page=2

players in the 1900s are talking about encountering 2. bc4 a lot.

Also, I have played against many other so called "beginner" players who do go into an open Sicilian and play the opening better from the white side than higher rated players.

In any case, theory-schmeri I say, tactics and endgame study is what gets you better at chess. There's no reason not to play the Sicilian as a beginner and it certainly won't harm your progress, as I am proof of that.

There are two different opinions i hear.

One says beginners should play e5, others say its good for growth of a player to play the sveshnikov

Anyway i have the feeling that dragon isnt an opening beginners should play

Adorable    The problem is your opponents will not know what to do and they will make very bad moves and you will not learn.  

If you wish to improve you should play the best competition possible and playing the Dragon against beginners will not teach you even how to play the Dragon as they will quickly play bad movess so you will be out of theory.

I dont know why beginners like the dragon, when i Look at favorable dragon positions they still look aweful hard

I don't play the Dragon against "beginners", I play against people equal to me no matter what my rating is. Look at my average opponent rating, it's in the 1400s just like my rating is.

The Dragon (when the Yugoslav attack is tried) becomes one of the sharpest and most tactical openings in chess, which is good for anyone wanting to improve. Some of my best wins against higher rated opposition was using the dragon vs the Yugoslav attack, and I haven't memorized much theory on it either as I originally played the Dragondorf in response to the Yugoslav. I barely know any theory on the Dragon either and yet I just beat someone rated nearly 300 points higher than me at Lichess with it.  http://en.lichess.org/analyse/eynygsc0/black

And you can see from that game my opponent didn't have an advantage the entire game. You think that's me playing a "beginner" someone nearly 300 points above me?

What's not to like, the Dragon can be one of the sharpest, most tactical and exciting openings in all of chess when the Yugoslav attack is tried, with piece sacrifices and mating attempts by both sides.

Yet, the Dragon also offers calmer and more positional games too, as when white takes the Classical approach.

I do not believe an opening is determines someones improvement or not. In any case I improved 675 ELO points these past 9 months playing the Sicilian and I just beat someone rated 300 points higher than me with it a few days ago as you can see http://en.lichess.org/analyse/eynygsc0/black