looking for a book (sicilian opening as black) - Chess Forums

deathdream

Apr 27, 2009

0

#1

Hello folks,

This might have been discussed countless of times but finding the right post is quite time consuming. Perhaps you guys can help on this one:

I'm looking for a _good_ book regarding general sicilian play as black (or if you know particular, one-varation book adherrent to below expectations, please let me know).

It would be best if the book:

- doesn't focus on long variation memorization but teaches you concepts, strategies and shares general chess wisdom in regard to the sicilian opening (Reti's Modern-Ideas-like).

- is not totally for beginners, and doesn't explain things as to a 3 year old, like some authors like to do.

- tries or explains either in explicit or implicit manner black's Queen play in the sicilian. I always have a hard-time finding good squares for a queen when i play the opening.

- talks about timely d5 pushes for black. Again i fail to find the right time or play in accordance to possible d pawn push.

- Also, it would be a fine treat if it does talk about black's play with a d -backward pawn (e5/d6 frequent occurence).

- elucidates play on the semi-open c file for black and how to take advantage of it.

Or does anything else that will make me a better and competetive player with sicilian. You guys, experienced with the opening and chess in general will probably know best what an "opening novice" like me might need to know and learn.

I'm considering the following books:

- The Sicilian for the tournament player

- Sicilian Defence, Book One / Sokolov

- How to play the Sicilian Defence / Levy

I tend to dislike everyman chess book series for particular reasons. If any one of you has any of the above books, you might want to share your comments and opinions.

Please give some consideration to this inquiry,

any input is well appreciated,

Thank You,

ericmittens

Apr 27, 2009

0

#2

Which variation of the sicilian are you talking about? Najdorf? Sveshnikov? Taimanov?

Jaguarphd

Apr 27, 2009

0

#3

I play the Najorf.

deathdream

Apr 28, 2009

0

#4

Hello guys, thank you for your comments, however please read my initial post and understand what it says.

Ericmittens: like i wrote, i don't care about any particular variation if the book satisfies my expectations (listed above) as long as they're "rather mainstream", you know what i mean.

Jaguarphd: thanks for the comment, though i really don't care. If you know a book... :-)

stay well all,

scuttlebutt94

Apr 28, 2009

0

#5

Okay i know a really good sicilian book it covers the dragon,Najdorf,Scheveningen and Shvesnikov variations.

The book's called "starting out: the sicilian" by John Emms.

Scarblac

Apr 28, 2009

0

#6

- doesn't focus on long variation memorization but teaches you concepts, strategies and shares general chess wisdom in regard to the sicilian opening (Reti's Modern-Ideas-like).

With the Sicilian, that may be problematic. Isn't the general chess wisdom in regard to the Sicilian that there are no general concepts, strategies et cetera but it's all about the concrete variations? Or perhaps that is just the Najdorf.

Yermolinsky's "The Road to Chess Improvement" is an interesting collection of lessons on various topics, including some on typical Sicilian counter-attacks. It's a fine book to get, but of course this is just a small part of it. He's also written "Chess Explained: The Classical Sicilian", which has more explanation that typical Sicilian books, but of course it's still full of analysis and only about that type of Sicilian.

Perhaps you're simply looking for "Starting Out: The Sicilian", by Emms. Or a book on a specific variation.

CarlMI

Apr 28, 2009

0

#7

The Levy book is a bit out dated, the Emms book recommended by Moaz is good at a very basic level but it is Everyman. This is really a niche that Everyman seems to dominate now. You might run through the book reviews here: http://www.jeremysilman.com/book_reviews/book_reviews.html to see if anything matches your need. Also check here: http://www.chesscafe.com/archives/reviews.htm

Here is a review of the Emms book:

Starting Out: The Sicilian

By John Emms
174 pages
$16.95
Everyman Chess (2002)

Reviewed by John Watson

John Emms’ STARTING OUT: THE SICILIAN achieves the remarkable feat of presenting the entire Sicilian Defense for both sides in 174 pages! Amazingly, he does it very well, not even skimping on the Bb5 systems (10 pages), the c3 Sicilian, or even the Morra Gambit (2 illustrative games)! Of course some lesser lines are just omitted, but this is nevertheless a remarkable achievement, and Emms makes it readable throughout.

Obviously you have to look elsewhere for any degree of detail. One might compare this, for example with Emms’ recent work SICILIAN KAN (click HERE to see Donaldson’s review of this book); that covers just one Sicilian variation (of intermediate importance at that) in 192 pages! As an old Taimanov/Kan player, I like the latter book, a detailed and competent effort that is of the “complete” variety made for a more advanced player. But it stands in stark contrast to the philosophy of STARTING OUT: THE SICILIAN, which is to familiarize the reader with the broader outlines of a major opening and its many variations, not to teach one specifically how to play those variations.

And another less favorable one:

Starting Out
The Sicilian

By John Emms
174 pages
$16.95
Everyman Chess (2002)

Reviewed by Randy Bauer
Randy’s Rating: 5

This new series, aimed at explaining an opening for the average player, had an auspicious debut with GM Joe Gallagher’s discussion of the King’s Indian Defense; unfortunately, GM John Emms does not pass on to the reader the same depth of knowledge and understanding about the Sicilian Defense.

The Sicilian Defense is the most popular reply to 1.e4, and it is widely favored because it provides black with an unparalleled variety of viable approaches, ranging from the solid and positional to the wild and tactical. It is possible that the sheer number of reasonable methods for both white and black ends up overwhelming the author; I found little that was fresh in the games, analysis, or explanations.

The book covers the entirety of the Sicilian in nine chapters. After a brief introduction, the author covers the Dragon Variation (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6) in 20 pages; the Najdorf Variation (5…a6) in 22 pages; the Scheveningen Variation (5…e6) in 18 pages; the Sveshnikov Variation (2…Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5) in 15 pages; the Classical Variation (5…d6) in 17 pages; other open Sicilians (such as the Accelerated Dragon, Kalashnikov, Tamainov, and Kan Variation) in 28 pages; Bb5 systems (mostly 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ and 2…Nc6 3.Bb5) in 12 pages, the c3 Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.c3) in 13 pages; and other systems (such as the Closed, Grand Prix Attack, and Morra Gambit) in 13 pages. As just about any of these variations has been the subject of entire books, it is obvious that brevity will be the order of the day in these chapters.

Of course, the author would probably argue that this book is intended for a player with very little knowledge of the defense and is just getting started in his/her opening study. While the book might prove useful for this niche of player, I think a similar level of understanding could be found from a few well-annotated games and various sites on the Internet. There really isn’t anything special here.

I’ve played the Sicilian for over 30 years, and I’ve dabbled in most of the variations (from both sides of the board). I was constantly confronted by little or no analysis of favored lines; often they are just noted as other possible moves for white/black with little or no further analysis. I doubt that any even slightly serious player will find the chapter on his/her favored variation to be useful as a reference guide.

The book doesn’t really make an attempt at being an up-to-date look at the variation. Although it carries a 2002 copyright, none of the 59 illustrative games was played after 1999; about half of the games are from the period 1995 to 1999. By contrast, Gallagher’s book Starting Out: the King’s Indian included 14 games from 2001 and another 5 from 2000 among its 68 illustrative games.

The book is all the more disappointing because John Emms is an accomplished player and author. It is notable, however, that he is not known as an expert or exponent of this defense. It is interesting that the only illustrative game of the author’s included in the book is one where he lost on the white side of the Classical variation. By contrast, Gallagher included 14 of his own efforts as black in his book on the King’s Indian.

In conclusion, this is a shallow look at the defense that probably has the most depth and complexity in all of chess. While it might be useful for the uninitiated, anybody with more than a passing knowledge of the defense will find little that is new or useful.

To see Watson’s review of this book, click HERE.

aansel

Apr 28, 2009

0

#8

First off there is a brand new much expanded 2nd edition of Emms book that just came out. I have not seen it but I think the recent Everyman series are much better than the older ones.

I have not looked at the Levy book in quite some time but was never impressed. There are excellent thematic books on the King;s Indian, Benoni, Ruy Lopez and French but none really on the Sicilian. Off the top of my head I thought Sicilian Book 1 was by Gligoric and was pretty variations oriented.

One reason is that different variations have different themes and break through ideas. I would recommend Watson's Mastering the Chess Openings Volume 1 which is an excellent instructive manual. It has coverage on the Sicilian as well as all 1. e4 openings

ericmittens

Apr 28, 2009

0

#9

I would go with the "Starting Out" book. Those books tend to be very good at general overviews, and John Emms is a good writer.

deathdream

Apr 28, 2009

0

#10

Thank you all for your comments. I'm still awaiting some advice as it won't be until sunday that i order the book(s).

There seems to be a consensus among you that Emms's Starting Out: Sicilian Defence is the best.

I have some doubts about its usefulness though because from what i see in the amazon.com preview, the book seems to focus on too many variations (few of which ill ever use) and in just less than 200 pages i fear it won't explain things in detail, or explain key things i actually do need to understand about sicilian play, which i listed in the first post. Classical phrase "Jack of all trades, master of nothing" might be very true.

My goal is to get competitive in sicilian play because i am not. When i win, i don't win because of my prowess and understanding but because the opponents are making too obvious mistakes. I'd like to change that.

Regarding by the title of the book (perhaps i shouldn't), i'm not really starting out to play sicilian. I'm not a total beginner. I just need to learn it better.

Once again, thank you everybody for your useful comments.

stay well,

deathdream

Apr 28, 2009

0

#11

Scarblac wrote:

- doesn't focus on long variation memorization but teaches you concepts, strategies and shares general chess wisdom in regard to the sicilian opening (Reti's Modern-Ideas-like).

With the Sicilian, that may be problematic. Isn't the general chess wisdom in regard to the Sicilian that there are no general concepts, strategies et cetera but it's all about the concrete variations? Or perhaps that is just the Najdorf.

Yermolinsky's "The Road to Chess Improvement" is an interesting collection of lessons on various topics, including some on typical Sicilian counter-attacks. It's a fine book to get, but of course this is just a small part of it. He's also written "Chess Explained: The Classical Sicilian", which has more explanation that typical Sicilian books, but of course it's still full of analysis and only about that type of Sicilian.

Perhaps you're simply looking for "Starting Out: The Sicilian", by Emms. Or a book on a specific variation.

Thank you for the words. I might have not articulated myself well. What i meant is the book indeed contains extensive analysis of given opening variation, but doesn't solely rely on our memorization but combines it with understanding. It explains the reasons, and the ideas, no matter how deep the analysis is.

I have a book on openings, by Mednis afair, where he discusses the Dragon variation. He focus on one or two "tree branches" sprang from the variation, and lists moves somewhat in detail but he doesn't explain them and leaves you all but musing why the heck you are making these moves and what's the point and what are you supposed to do when your opponent doesn't comply with the sequence and does different moves, etc. That's not the type of discussion i'd like to see.

mattattack99

Apr 28, 2009

0

#12

Try Experts vs. The Sicilian or Dangerous Weapons: The Sicilian Defense.

CarlMI

Apr 28, 2009

0

#13

Do you want all main lines/ideas? Then you won't get depth in anything shy of a multi volume set. If you want ideas and no concentration on lines Lyev Polugayevsky's (as spelled on the books) 2 volume set The Sicilian Labyrinth is almost without peer. His love for the Sicilian shines through. Perhaps best is a subscription to http://www.chesspublishing.com/content/ would be your best bet. The 3 for 2 special is $39 and you can select the Dragon, Open Sicilian and Anti Sicilian which should cover all of it.