Six Sicilians

This review has been printed in the May 2015 issue of Chess Life.  A penultimate (and unedited) version of the review is reproduced here.  My thanks to the good folks at Chess Life for allowing me to do so.

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Amatov, Zhanibek and Kostya Kavutskiy. Modernized: The Open Sicilian. Los Angeleis: Metropolitan Chess, 2015. ISBN 978-0985628116. PB 568pp. List $34.95; currently around $31 on Amazon.

Kotronias, Vassilios. Grandmaster Repertoire 18: The Sicilian Sveshnikov. Glasgow: Quality Chess, 2014. ISBN 978-1907982927. PB 440pp. List $29.95.

Kozul, Zdenko, and Ajojzije Jankovic. The Richter Rauzer Reborn. Gent: Thinkers Publishing, 2014. ISBN 978-9082256604. PB 316pp. List $30.99; currently around $25 on Amazon.

Negi, Parimarjan. Grandmaster Repertoire: 1.e4 vs The Sicilian I. Glasgow: Quality Chess, 2015. ISBN 978-1906552398. PB 360pp. List $29.95.

Rotella, Tony. The Killer Sicilian: Fighting 1.e4 with the Kalashnikov. London: Everyman, 2014. ISBN 978-1857446654. PB 464pp. List $29.95.

Sveshnikov, Evgeny. Sveshnikov vs. the Anti-Sicilians. Alkmaar: New in Chess, 2014. ISBN 978-9056915452. PB 272pp. List $28.95; currently around $21 on Amazon.

More than 20% of all chess games begin as some form of a Sicilian Defense, if my math and MegaBase are to be trusted. It’s no wonder, then, that so many books have been written about this opening. This month I look at six books on the Sicilian that have recently appeared in my mailbox.

The Richter Rauzer Reborn is the first title from Thinkers Publishing, a new chess publishing house headed by GM Ivan Sokolov and not to be confused with Bob Long’s longtime imprint Thinker’s Press. Written by GMs Zdenko Kozul and Alojzije Jankovic, the book consists of a Black repertoire after the moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0-0-0 Bd7. The bulk of the book, however, is devoted to what Alex Yermolinsky once called the ‘Kozul Suicide variation,’ which appears after 9.f4 b5 10.Bxf6 gxf6.

That this is a first effort from a new publisher is obvious. The cover features a chessboard that is set up incorrectly. The chapter structure and typesetting is confusing and hard to read, and the inconsistent editing does little to mitigate that fact. Still, those who hazard the Kozul variation will want this book because of the stellar analysis. Here’s hoping that future Thinkers Publishing titles feature the technical improvements necessary to do justice to the wonderful content their upcoming titles promise.

The Sveshnikov (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5) is among the most popular variations of the Sicilian today, having been essayed with Black by some of the world’s strongest players. With Grandmaster Repertoire 18: The Sicilian Sveshnikov, GM Vassilios Kotronias has written a complete and comprehensive repertoire book in the Sveshnikov, and brilliantly so.

Kotronias does not cover every variation in the Sveshnikov, skipping (for instance) 10…Bg7 in favor of 10…f5 after 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5. What he does do is offer a response to every one of White’s key moves after move five. His analysis runs past move thirty in many instances, but I never found myself overwhelmed by it. The book is very well structured, as is typical for Quality Chess titles, and the conclusions at the end of each chapter function as useful summaries. Anyone who plays the Sveshnikov with either color needs to study this book.

Some potential buyers of The Killer Sicilian: Fighting 1.e4 with the Kalashnikov might dismiss the book because of its author. Tony Rotella does not have an international title. He’s not even a master, but a ‘mere’ expert in over-the-board and correspondence play. (Who does this guy think he is, anyway?!) Prejudice is never to be recommended, but it would be especially unfortunate here. Rotella has written an unusually fine book.

Much like the Sveshnikov, the Kalashnikov (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5) admits of varying treatments. Some variations are calm and strategic in nature, while others are of immense tactical complexity. In many cases Rotella offers his readers the choice of two continuations, one tactical and one more positional in nature. The analysis is excellent indeed, but what sets the book apart is its explanations. Rotella’s prose is clear and insightful, and each chapter ends with a set of “Key Takeaways” that sum up important positional ideas.

It should be noted that Rotella’s book also contains a complete repertoire against the Anti-Sicilians. His recommendations include: 3…Nf6 against the Rossolimo, 7…Nb6 in the 2…Nf6 Alapin mainlines, and the …g6 / …e5 / …Nge7 lines of the Closed Sicilian. Against 3.Nc3 – a problematic move-order for Kalashnikov players – Rotella recommends 3…e5.

If Anti-Sicilians concern you such that you desire a ‘second opinion,’ consider Sveshnikov vs. the Anti-Sicilians. This is the first title in a series of three from GM Evgeny Sveshnikov, the second being devoted to the Rossolimo and the third to the Kalashnikov. Sveshnikov is a pugnacious and self-assured writer, not in the least afraid of courting controversy. In Chapter One he claims to correct no less than Botvinnik and Dvoretsky, and in the Conclusion he argues that the Polugaevsky and Dragon variations will soon be unplayable!

Sveshnikov’s book, the bombast notwithstanding, is an interesting (if idiosyncratic) set of responses to some key Anti-Sicilian lines. It uses annotated games, unlike the other books discussed thus far, to impart Sveshnikov’s recommendations, and about half of the games are from Sveshnikov’s practice. Like Rotella, he advises 3…e5 against the 3.Nc3 lines, although they differ on move orders later on. Other recommendations include …g6 / …Nf6 / …e5 lines against the Closed Sicilian, three ideas (including transposing back to the Alapin) against the Smith-Morra, and 7…dxe5 in the 2…Nf6 Alapin.

Not all books on the Sicilian are written from Black’s perspective. Recently I’ve received two books designed for those of us who have to face the Sicilian with the White pieces. Both are very good, albeit for somewhat different audiences.

Modernized: The Open Sicilian is the second title from Metropolitan Chess Publishing. The complete repertoire proposed by IM Zhanibek Amanov and FM Kostya Kavutskiy tends to favor slightly more positional (and less all-or-nothing) recipes for fighting the Sicilian. Among them: 6.h3 against the Najdorf, 6.g3 against the Kan and Taimanov, and 9.0-0-0 against the Dragon. They offer lines against minor Sicilian variations as well, including the Grivas, the Nimzowitsch, and the O’Kelly. Using densely annotated games to carry the analysis, the book is well researched and the repertoire choices make sense for the practical player.

Grandmaster Repertoire 1.e4 vs The Sicilian I is a clunky title for a fantastic book. This is the second entry in GM Parimarjan Negi’s 1.e4 series, the first of which (1.e4 vs The French, Caro-Kann and Philidor) deservedly won the 2014 ChessPub.com Book of the Year award. In his new book Negi turns 6.Bg5 into a fearsome weapon against the Najdorf suitable even for his Grandmaster readers. This is a serious book for advanced players, one that will drive the theoretical discussion on the Najdorf for the foreseeable future.

I find it useful to study points of convergence between opening books, particularly those that advocate for different sides of the same positions. There are three such intersections among the books reviewed this month, coming from Modernized: The Open Sicilian for White and The Killer Sicilian and Grandmaster Repertoire 18: The Sicilian Sveshnikov for Black. I’ll close this column by looking briefly at each of them.

In Modernized… Amanov and Kavutskiy advocate the trendy 11.c4 against the Sveshnikov, with their main line being 11…b4 12.Nc2 0-0 13. 13.g3 0–0 14.h4. Here Kotronias advocates the pawn sacrifice 14…a4!?, and while his mainline is 15.Ncxb4 Nxb4 16.Nxb4 Qb6 17.a3 Bd8, he also discusses 15.Bg2 and 15.Bh3.

With the benefit of seeing Kotronias’ book before theirs went to press, Amanov and Kavutskiy recommend 15.Bg2 Be6 16.0–0 b3 and attempt to better Kotronias’ 17.Nce3 with the ‘novelty’ 17.axb3!. Their analysis proceeds: 17…axb3 18.Rxa8 Qxa8 19.Nxf6+ gxf6 20.Ne3 Nd4 21.f4! and White has the initiative. 17.axb3 does seem to improve on Kotronias, but unfortunately, it is not a novelty. Amanov and Kavutskiy do not refer to correspondence games in their book; if they did, they might have found Schramm-Jordan (corr. 2010) which anticipated their line in full.

There is more sustained overlap between Modernized… and The Killer Sicilian. Amanov and Kavutskiy propose that White play 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 Be7 7.N1c3 a6 8.Na3 against the Kalashnikov, and Rotella analyzes both 8…Be6 and 8…f5. Their disagreement after 8…Be6 9.Be2 Nd4 10.0–0 Nf6 11.Be3 Nxe2+ 12.Qxe2 0–0 13.f3 Rc8 14.Rac1 Nh5 15.Qd2 f5 16.exf5 Rxf5 17.g4 Rg5 18.Kh1 Nf4 is minor. Rotella thinks that Black has fine counterplay after 19.Rce1, while Amanov and Kavutskiy assess 19.Rfe1 as +/=.

The divergence after 8…f5 is perhaps more interesting. After 9.exf5 Bxf5 10.Nc2 Nf6 11.Ne3 Be6 12.g3 Nd4 13.Bg2 b5 14.cxb5 axb5 15.Ncd5 Rc8 16.0–0 0–0 17.b3 Kh8 18.Nxe7 Qxe7 19.Bb2 Nf5 20.Nxf5 Bxf5 21.Rc1 we reach a position that deserves a diagram.

Both books argue that 21.Rc1 improves on an old Smirnov-Radjabov game, but they disagree on their assessment of the ensuing position. Rotella writes that “[a] better try for White might be 21.Rc1 Qd7 22.Qe2, though 22…Bg4 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Qd2 Bh3 seems about equal too.” Amanov and Kavutskiy think White has “…a noticeable plus. The two bishops are clearly felt here, and the b-pawn remains a chronic weakness.” I think this is a little optimistic, and that Black is just fine here. But I’m willing to be convinced otherwise! Readers?