The Sicilian Defence

A game on lichess.org, 2014. A Sicilian Defence, move eleven. White has pushed the g- and h-pawns forward, preparing an attack on the king. The queen stands on d4, in the centre, where a knight usually stands in the Open Sicilian. The black knight on e5 looks at f3. Black to move.

White pushed the pawns towards the black king and forgot about their own. The g2 pawn has gone, f3 has no defender, and the queen in the centre ended up in one fork with the king. Positions like this are typical of the Sicilian: both sides attack, and every pawn move leaves weakened squares behind it.

A queen in the centre is a frequent guest in the Sicilian. After the exchange on d4, White sometimes recaptures with the queen rather than the knight, and the queen becomes a target for Black's knights at once. Keep this in mind when your queen lands on d4: check which squares around it an enemy knight could reach with check.

The idea of the Sicilian

1… c5 also fights for the centre, only from the side: the c5 pawn covers d4. Black does not put a pawn opposite the e4 pawn, as in the open games, and the position becomes unbalanced at once. White usually continues 2. Nf3 and 3. d4, opening the centre. After 3… cxd4 4. Nxd4 the pawns stand in a way they never do in any open game.

The move 1… c5 has been known for a long time: the Italian master Giulio Cesare Polerio analysed it as early as the end of the 16th century. But real fame came to the Sicilian in the 20th century, when players realised that an unbalanced position gives Black more winning chances than quiet equality. Today it appears in master databases more often than any other reply to 1. e4.

This is what the Sicilian rests on. Black has an extra central pawn and the half-open c-file: there are no black pawns on it, and a rook on c8 presses on White's queenside. White has quick development, space and the chance to attack the king. So in the Sicilian White often attacks on the kingside, and Black counterattacks on the queenside.

Hence the typical blows. White looks for sacrifices on d5, e6 and f5 to open lines to the black king before it can hide. Black looks for sacrifices on c3 and e4, to break up the pawns in front of the white king or to win the central pawn. In both cases the sacrifice is made for tempo and open lines, as in the chapter on combinations.

The Najdorf

The best-known and most complex line of the Sicilian is named after grandmaster Miguel Najdorf. Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov played it, and it is still one of the main openings at the top level.

The move 5… a6 looks slow: it develops no piece. But in the Sicilian it is useful in several ways at once. The b5 square is closed to White's pieces, the b-pawn can advance and start play on the queenside, and …e5 becomes possible without the danger of Ndb5. It is a good example of the principles from the chapter on opening mistakes being rules for most positions, not a law.

White has many systems against the Najdorf, and almost all of them are aggressive. White castles long and pushes the g- and h-pawns, as in the game at the start of the chapter. Black castles short and pushes the a- and b-pawns. Whoever gets to the king first often wins. In such races every tempo matters more than a pawn.

The most famous of the sharp lines is the Poisoned Pawn Variation: 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2. The black queen takes the b2 pawn and goes far away from its king, and White answers with quick development and an attack. Bobby Fischer played this line with Black and trusted his calculation. It has gone down in history as an exception to the rule about the early queen: you may take the pawn if you know exactly what comes next.

The Dragon

According to tradition, the Dragon was named early in the 20th century by Fyodor Dus-Chotimirsky: Black's pawns on d6, e7, f7, g6 and h7 reminded him of the constellation Draco, the Dragon. The key piece of this line is the bishop on g7, developed in a fianchetto. It looks down the long diagonal, through the centre, at White's queenside.

The Yugoslav Attack was worked out by Yugoslav players in the 1950s, and ever since the Dragon has been considered one of the riskiest lines for Black: a mistake of a single tempo can cost a mate. White's plan in it is simple to state: trade the g7 bishop with Bh6, open the h-file and mate. Black's plan is a counterattack along the half-open c-file, where the white king stands after castling long. Exchange sacrifices on c3 are a typical Black device in this line: the rook gives itself up for the knight to wreck the white king's shelter.

While the g7 bishop is on the board, the long diagonal is closed to White's pieces. Once Black loses it, the a1–h8 diagonal becomes a road to their king.

Other lines for Black

The Najdorf and the Dragon are not the only paths. In the Sveshnikov (in the lichess opening database it falls under the Lasker-Pelikan) Black plays …Nc6 and …e5, deliberately leaving a hole on d5 for the sake of active pieces. In the Kan and the Taimanov Black puts a pawn on e6 and keeps the position flexible. All these systems have one thing in common: Black accepts some weaknesses for the sake of an unbalanced game in which they have winning chances.

There is also the Accelerated Dragon: 2… Nc6 and …g6 before …d6. Black saves a tempo and can play …d5 in one move. White answers with c4, putting pawns on c4 and e4. This setup is called the Maróczy Bind: the pawns hold d5, and it is hard for Black to free their game.

For an improving player the Sicilian is a bold choice. The positions are sharp, and a single inaccuracy can cost the game. But in it Black plays for a win from the first move, and knowing the typical plans brings points faster than memorising moves.

Anti-Sicilian systems

Not every White player wants to argue with Black in Black's best lines. Many play systems in which White does not play 3. d4, or plays it differently. The Alapin, 2. c3, prepares d4 so that a trade can be answered with a pawn. The Closed Sicilian, 2. Nc3 followed by g3, does without opening the centre at all: White slowly prepares a kingside attack with f4 and f5. World champion Boris Spassky liked this line. The Moscow Variation, 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+, offers to trade minor pieces at once.

The idea of the Alapin is simple. After 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. d4 cxd4 5. cxd4 White has two central pawns, d4 and e5, as in the classical openings. Black does not get their extra central pawn, but the knight on d5 stands actively, and the e5 pawn can become a target. The positions are calmer than in the Open Sicilian, and there is less theory.

The sharpest of the anti-Sicilian systems is the Smith-Morra Gambit. White gives up a pawn, 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3, and if Black takes it, White gets quick development and the open c- and d-files.

The Morra has a trap with a name of its own, the Siberian Trap. It arises after natural moves: 4… Nc6 5. Nf3 e6 6. Bc4 Qc7 7. O-O Nf6 8. Qe2 Ng4. The knight on g4 looks at h2, and the queen on c7 stands on the c7–h2 diagonal. White thinks the knight can simply be chased away.

The trap shows a general rule. A pawn move that attacks a piece looks free: the enemy piece has to move. But sometimes the piece stays where it is and strikes back. Before a move like h3, check what the opponent will do if they do not retreat.

Typical mistakes

For White in the Open Sicilian the most common mistake is slow moves. h3, a3 or moving the same piece twice give Black time to finish developing and start play on the c-file, and without an attack White's position often turns out worse. The second mistake is forgetting about the d4 knight: after …Nc6 or …e5 it is attacked, and the trade on c6 or the retreat has to be worked out in advance.

For Black the main mistake is delaying kingside development. A king on e8 with the e-file open becomes a target for sacrifices on d5 and e6: White gives up a knight or bishop to open the file, and a rook arrives on e1 before Black can castle. The second mistake is not noticing that …e5 gives up d5: if a white knight lands there and cannot be traded off, it will press on the whole position.

How to play against the Sicilian

If you play White and do not want to learn a lot of theory, it makes sense to pick one anti-Sicilian system, such as the Alapin or the Morra Gambit. If you are ready for a sharp fight, the Open Sicilian with 3. d4 gives the richest positions, but also demands more knowledge. Either way, remember three things. The d4 knight and a queen in the centre are targets for Black's knights and pawns. The half-open c-file is Black's main line of counterattack. And in positions with opposite-side castling you must not waste tempi.

If you play the Sicilian with Black, pick one system and study its typical plans rather than its moves. The Najdorf requires a lot of theory. Lines with …e6, such as the Taimanov, are usually considered easier to learn. Be sure to work out your answers to the Alapin and the Morra Gambit: they turn up often in club and online games, and an unprepared player falls into traps like the Siberian one.

Your own games are the best teacher here. Play a dozen quick games with your line, then go through each one on the analysis page. Note where the opponent left the familiar line and what you did in reply. In a few weeks you will know your system better than opponents who only meet it now and then.

What's next

The Sicilian is an open fight from the first move. Two other popular defences against 1. e4 work differently: the French and the Caro-Kann. In them Black first builds a solid pawn centre and only then starts a counterattack. The next chapter is about them.