Thinking of switching to an easier sicilian.

For almost a year now I have been playing the sicilian as black exclusively and have had good results with it. I play the Najdorf variation, and it was one of the first openings I really studied and memorized theory for. I really like playing it because I often get to seize the initiative with black and play for the win.

My problem with it is that there is just so much theory. I don't even play the most critical lines like the poisened pawn or the mainline of the english attack, but I still have trouble remembering alot of the critical variations despite studying them alot. My forgetfulness hasn't really been a problem yet because most of my opponents in live chess or over the board play don't know the lines that well either and in correspondence I can look them up if need be, but I am often worried that I will just get smashed in an important game by a very well prepared opponent. I feel like an opening as theoretical as this one is above my level and that I should switch to something less theoretical so I can focus more on chess and less on theory. Plus I face 1.e4 probably 90% of the time, so I feel that switching things up would keep the game new and interesting.

I am currently looking at the sveshnikov, the kan, and the accelerated dragon. I realize these all have large bodies of theory aswell but I feel like there aren't as many critical lines as there are in the Najdorf. I am open to other suggestions aswell but I don't want to play some offbeat variation like 2...Nf6 or 2...b6 or anything like that. I want to play relatively sharp positions too, so if it is a boring sicilian (is there such a thing?) then I don't want to play it.

BigTy, have you seen the fairly recent book from Chess Stars called the Easiest Sicilian? It focuses on the Sveshnikov as the low-memory Sicilian and has gotten rave reviews. It's still too theoretical for me, but maybe right for you.

I have heard of it before but didn't know the sveshnikov could be a low memory sicilian! It almost seems to me to have as much theory as the najdorf or dragon but less critical lines (all the lines after Nb5 I think). It looks like a strong opening but I fear it might be too theoretical for me. I will read some reviews and see.

I just read the review of the easiest sicilian and a couple more reviews on amazon. It seems like a very good book but I can't see why the svesh would be the easiest sicilian. I mean first of all there is a huuuuggeee hole on d5 that whites whole strategy often revolves around, plus blacks pawn structure is a mess in some lines (doubled f pawns, backward d6, over extended queenside etc). I have crushed some people on the white side of this very quickly just because they didn't know what they were doing, and heck I hardly know as white! It would be interesting to hear more opinions on weather the svesh is easier to play than other sicilians, to me the kan, taimanov or accelerated dragon look easier but probably not as fun!

The Najdorf is tough to play well and has unfathomable complications (tactical AND positional) with theory going very deep. The higher level you play, the more difficult it is to play the Najdorf successfully since it tends to be what Open Sicilian players prepare against first and most intensely. This is natural given that it is the most popular Sicilian. With that said, if you're up to the challenge it will probably serve you well.

Still, it's true that there are other aspects of chess that will prove far more useful to master and sometimes you may want a reliable opening that isn't going to need as much maintainance as the Najdorf. For that, probably the Sicilian is already not the best choice. As far as sharp but not incredibly difficult Sicilians go, the "New" Dragon is a good choice. It has relatively low theory and clearly defined plans while also being fairly sound. I know this might seem strange since the Dragon has a reputation for being theoretical, but it will make more sense if you read this: ABC of the Sicilian Dragon or get the New Sicilian Dragon by Williams (set for late 2009). The Dragon's theoretical nature stems from the typical way to handle the Yugoslav Attack (the only critical line in the Dragon) but the approach above is different from traditional theory. Black aims to delay castling and prioritize Q-side play. Some call this the Dragondorf. This has done well in practice but is still young enough to have surprise value. Although, since the Dragon is experiencing a bit of a resurgence with super-GMs like Carlsen and Radjabov pleased to defend the black side, theory will likely swell in the next few years. On the other hand, the process of this trickling down to club level is slow and because you'll be watching it happen, it shouldn't feel overwhelming.

BTW: There are other Sicilians that are sound and not insanely theoretical, such as the Kan, Taimanov, Accelerated Dragon or Classical but these are not as innately aggressive. In truth, most of the sharp Sicilians are just simply quite theoretical.

This new dragon certainly does seem like an interesting idea, delaying castling to go for a queenside attack, seems like the Najdorf in some lines. I will have a look because the yugoslav in the old dragon never looked appealing to me for the black side, it just seems to be better for white. The good thing about the dragon is that the yugoslav is the only very critical line, the bad thing is that it is probably what I will face most of the time.

Any other ideas? I think I would rather avoid these really sharp opposite side castling positions.

Have you decided on something?

Just to chime in here about Likesforests Sveshnikov suggestion. I play the svesh sometimes, and I own "the easiest sicilian" and I can tell you that that Svesh is NOT a low-memory variation to learn. The reason its "easier" than other sicilians is that there are very few pawn structures and piece setups/tabiyas to learn. On the other hand, there are long forcing lines up to move 20 that you have to know to play the svesh well. It is EXTREMELY sharp and to play it well requires and very keen sense of initiative and piece placement.

If you want an opening wherein you dont have to memorize a lot I wouldn't suggest the sicilian at all, but if you must play a sicilian then I would look into something like the accelerated dragon or maybe the kan. Really though, i would suggest playing something  like the french or maybe the scandinavian. Much less memory intensive and still lots of fun. 

piece setups/tabiyas    -  what are these?

In order to seize the initiative as black, you need to initiate some complications, or give something (usually positional) away (like in the svesh). And with complications or imbalances comes the theory... So it's difficult to have everything.

The various 2...e6 sicilians may be a fairly good bet, as you can either play them sharp or solid, and as they are not very popular, you probably won't need to know an awful lot of theory.

Accelerated Dragon is fairly positional, but it's rather defensive.

Svesh gives you a shot at the initiative, but you have to burn your bridges...

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, I really thought this topic had died out. As much as I like sicilians, and sharp unbalanced positions, I have decided I am going to switch to 1...e5 for a while because I think the open games as black would be good to learn, and most of the lines are less critical. Maybe in a year or two I will try the sveshnikov out, but right now I think my study time is much better devoted to endgames and tactics, rather than memorizing multiple lines 25+ moves deep. I will probably continue to play the Najdorf from time to time though because I really enjoy it, and it is great when you need to go all out for a win.

I guess it had died out.  I saw your comment on a thread and went to look at your rating and saw lots of interesting threads you'd started so when I commented, it came alive again.  Thanks for sharing about what you've decided...e5...it's not difficult wondering if you'll be playing Italian or Ruy Lopez?

hey thanks richie and oprah.  very cool new thing to learn.  

lol french i would say is okay

hyper accelerated dragon. . . if you can deal with a maroxcy ur good

i think he still checks this thread /sarcasm

Maybe it's just me. But I haven't found any "easy" Sicillian. I have tried the Kan, Taimanov and Sheveningen. They may have a lower amount of theory than the Nadjorf. But their defensive brick wall approach means that 1 slip up and that is the end. I've only lost 3 correspondence games so far out of about 30 games - 2 were losses in the Kan and sheveningen. I would need to read a book on it. For now I have given up the Sicillian outright.

But if Ihad to choose an "easy" sicllian in relative terms it's probably the Taimanov. Though one odd aspect of it is if you don't play an exact move order white can transpose you into te sveshnikov

I play the Sicilian Dragon almost everytime I face the e4. Yes its true, You can face the Yugoslav from time to time but not very often ( at my level at least). But regardless of the Yugoslav I strongly recommend this opening, its sharp and funny to play. Of course you have to be a "fianchetto" fanatic to love it, but in my oppinion its a lot easier to play the Dragon than the Nadjorf due to the easier mainline. When thats said, when playing the Sicilian Dragon against Yugoslav I loose quite often, but there are lines against the Yugoslav as well I just havent mett it enough to botter studying it. If you want to play something different, you can also play the French? Even though I consider the French to be a bit dobious for an amateur such as myself. Its way harder to learn correctly.