Why you should play the Sicilian?! 

"you should play the sicilian, it's so much fun, no need to learn any theory" but also "here's 5 different ways either side can lose instantly unless you are familiar with this particular line/tactic/pattern.''

I'm an e4 player and I hated playing against the sicilian until one day I just said screw it and started playing the open sicilian. Now I love playing against the sicilian

I don’t know more than the first 12 moves of any Sicilian line for white and can confirm that the problem is not black knowing 18 moves theory but black knowing 4 move tactics better than me.

Every video has a better thumbnail than the previous one, that's crazy

I picked up the open Sicilians rather than anti-sicilians after going through the best games of every famous player from 1950-2000 and realized that more than half of them were from either the white or black side of the open Sicilian. Inspirational chess!

chad sicilian energy over here

I have been playing for 60 years, never played Open Sicilian, but i am going to start now. Thanks for the inspiration and the starter guide

Wow, I didn't realise how fun and exciting the sicilian can be!

I've always been intimidated by the Sicilian, more by it's reputation than the opening itself. But I have to say that I've never had a boring game playing the open Sicilian. After watching this I think perhaps it's time I properly incorporated it in my repertoire.

If the Sicilian opening ever needed marketing content, this is it lol.

You may be "only" an IM in playing strength but you are a super grandmaster 2800+ in chess teachings. Literally the best of the web, i especially like your videos on chess psychology and attack. I jumped from my plateau 1600 to 1800 playing strength in about one month!! Thank you very much :)

Thank you for this! I was a Grand Prix & closed Sicilian player. Why? Because I was worried about all the theory. And I ended up learning a large amount of theory anyway! After going the possible systems for white in open Sicilian, I realized it's not that hard at all! You need to know a few main set ups and what the plan is and then just play good tactical chess. And boy are you right! The open Sicilian is so much FUN! It's actually more aggessive than the Grand Prix. Especially with 0-0-0, and then hurtling your g and h pawns at the enemy king. It's a fast attack! This is more exciting than my closed Sicilian was.

I never get more excited about a chess game than when entering the Open Sicilian as either white or black. I hope this inspires more people to learn it!

I've played the Sicilian as black ever since I was a beginner and every game is a new bunch of discoveries. Except for the boring grand prix and closed sicilian ones. A truly instructive opening for both colors !

I just started dabbling in the Sicilian. Thanks for such an inspirational and fun showcase of the Sicilian!

Back in 1972 when I was a 1400-ish player I saw a black win in the Sicilian Dragon in Chess Life magazine that caught my attention. I bought David Levy's book on the Dragon and went through it from cover to cover. Because of Fischer's influence in the US, 1. e4 was by far the most common move, and 2. Nf3 and 3. d4 was the most popular way of meeting the Sicilian. Pretty soon I was trouncing B players, had a plus score against A players, and even drew a few Experts. Twenty years later I renewed my interest in chess and expected that a quick Dragon refresh would keep the winning ways going. Unfortunately, I found myself playing everything but open Sicilians; Alapin, Grand Prix Attack, 3. Bb5+, Closed, KIA, even the Smith-Morra gambit. I stopped playing in tournaments in 2002 but still play at a club. Except for a few 5-minute games, I can't remember the last time I got to play an open Sicilian.

"Exact calculation is your only true rule and god to follow." @ 17:13 too good. Going to be the opening to my chess notebook.

I'm afraid I don't quite follow the logic 00:00 - 05:00 You don't need to know theory 5:00-7:00 Anyway here are some quick wins I scored when my opponent didn't know the theory 07:00-09:00 Here's some ultra specific theory in one of hundreds of possible lines in the Open Sicilian you can use to avoid this happening to you

My favorite variation of the Sicilian is the Corleone gambit. It's where you make an offer your opponent cannot refuse

Thank you Andras I love the open Sicilian from black but I usually use "anti"Sicilian from white, you have now convinced me to learn.

as a fan of the Open Sicilian this is my new favourite video of yours! Recently I've mainly been playing the Najdorf and I currently have a 65% win rate with it... never ever would I go back to playing 1e4 ...e5 or the French

Congrats on your new Chessable course good to see a short and sweet for it.

Hello again!! I dont play sicilian but will try to add this to my library after this one...OP video...(and OP acting in the beginning lol)

You forgot about Anand!

Are there 4 or 5 Sicilian miniatures you'd recommend memorizing so instead of disconnected opening lines there's memorable storylines, structures and themes? I did that with the King's gambit years ago and those stuck with me even though I've forgotten everything else about it. It might make a cool video series.

2:50 are you going to play tomorrow against Topalov 😂😂😂 you silly silly mate

Thank you for making this video it helped me get over my fear of the Sicilian and now I love playing it as White and Black! So often you hear people saying to avoid the Sicilian because it's too heavy, but frankly there's so much juice to be squeezed out of the opening that my opponents are often completely out of prep by move 5-7 and we just play a razor sharp game!

Suggestion : organize an open-sicilian themed rapid tournament with the ChessDojo, and play in it. Maybe get one of the Senseis in as well (I believe Kostya coauthored a book on the open sicilian and plays the Taimanov as his main repertoire), and make some kind of friendly bet between the two top dogs. Get the masses playing 3.d4!!!

This is the best motivational chess video on youtube.

I get the sicilian so many times, I actually played it with you as white three times I think, one was very close until the endgame

I really like the Classical Sicilian. The mainline Bg5 Rauzer has some Najdorf like crazyness. But it is also the only critical line, so very practical. Maybe the Sozin is also critical but not that hard. Most of the other lines in the open classical you can play a dragon like setup without white having the Yugoslav attack and the Anti-Sicilians in the Classical move order are pretty easy.

As a very beginner player that had only learned a bit of d4 openings, I don't understand a lot of this, like what are anti-sicilian moves for example, but I love your energy and passion. Great video

Andras : Sicilian is the most fun opening in the game. The KID : uh what now ?!? 😅

I finally took the plunge-on both sides of the board! I’ve put the Petrov on hold for the Accelerated Dragon and I’m loving it. And I’ve set the Smith Morra aside for a full Open repertoire. What a wide world 😮 Won my first game against the Taimanov using the Qf3 idea and it felt great! It’s great to play both sides of something for once, something I can’t often do with the Petrov.

Jesus christ mate the thumbnails have been mad lately

The God Father 😯 Loving the content Coach 💪 And the thumbnails PhunkyT👌

I've always been an e4 player and just starting to explore the whole openings universe. I was going to start with the Italian game since that's the first one I learned and the only one I know. I'm totally sold on learning the open Sicilian and theory doesn't scare me. I estimate my rating to be somewhere between 800-1200. I got the Chessable Short and Sweet Open Sicilian course by Ivan Saric. Look forward to starting it! - Thanks for giving me some direction!

I've been playing the closed Sicilian as white all this time. That's gonna change. I've also always played 1. e4 e5 as black hoping for a marshall attack against RL. I'm going to pick up the dragon now!

12:59 there is a cool line here with each side sacking a queen if instead of 0-0-0 white plays the early e5. A tough one but i would heavily recommend playing it out on a board because of how nice it is. it goes: 1. e5 Bb7 2. exd6 Bxd6 3. Qe3 Bc5 4. 0-0-0 Nc6 5. Qxe6+! fxe6 6. Nxe6 Qe7 7. Rhe1 Qxe6! 8. Rxe6 Ne7 9. Rde1 0-0-0[] There are about 6 more moves of trades and what not but this simplifies down to a drawn 2 rooks endgame. beautiful line. you really do see these all over the place in the Sicilian, sometimes there are straight up piece sacks that are still considered book moves, like in the traditional Bg5 line with Bd3 theres 12. Nd5 which just straight up throws a knight in front of a pawn.

This video was so refreshing. I am currently a beginner but the open sicilian is my favourite opening with the white and the black pieces, especially the Najdorf. When you play the sicilian as black, you declare you're not looking for equality - you're playing for a win with the black pieces. When you play the open sicilian as white, you accept black's challenge. It's a sharp, double-edged opening which takes nerves and the willingness to take risks, that's why it's so awesome and generates some of the most beautiful attacking games. Sidelines like the alapin and closed sicilian just aren't the same... I think especially the alapin is a very awkward version of the sicilian. (Judit Polgar has a great series on her sicilian games and she's a beast with the white and the black pieces. Highly recommend it.)

What Andras is really saying in this video, it that he likes the positions that come from the open variation of the Sicilian defence more than positions that come from some other openings. It's totally fine to be just another guy with an opinion, it is less fine to impose your opinion on others and to act as if you are morally right and people who disagree with you are morally wrong. I personally wouldn't play 1. f3 e5 2. Kf2 as White. In fact, I play the open Sicilian myself. But if someone does play that, if it brings them enjoyment, if they win with those opening moves, they have about the same right to call 1. f3 e5 2. Kf2 the best opening in existence, and call the open Sicilian a total rubbish as vice versa. And 1. f3 e5 2. Kf2 was played on every level mind you. GM Williams won a classical game with it in the 1999 British championship, and GM Carlsen used it to beat GM So in game 1 of the 2020 Banter blitz finals.

Even i, a certified tactics hater got inspired to play other sicilian lines besides my beloved sveshnikov great video 10/10

I am playing open Sicilian as white in every line but 1. Against 2. ...Nc6 I like playing Rossolimo. I play Ruy Lopez against 1. ...e5 so at the start I wanted to give Rossolimo a chance as well (I know it is not really a good reasoning, but that is just how I started playing it). For some reason, I am comfortable playing it and I actually have a pretty good record in that line. I find that to be a nice variety to my game as well. And as I play 1. ...c5 as black, I get my fair share of open Sicilians from both sides, so I think playing Rossolimo along with open Sicilians is not bad for my learning experience. :)

Came from todays stream Andras, Thank you for introducing me to the open sicilian !

5:08 “Hey old man. Give me everything”

This video made me play Sicilian. I only know the two first moves and then I have to think about the pawns.

would love analysis to play this opening and more sacrificial motives

The video kind of starts at around 5:00 in. I suggest you skip to the first could of examples and go from there.

Andras- I thought you might be interested in my experience with the Sicilian. I am about 1900, Australian Chess Federation not internet, and took up the Sveshnikov in 1985 and learned it in excessive depth. You say this opening is good for positional players and I count myself as one. I found studying and playing this opening good for my chess especially as it really helped me develop the dynamic part of my game. My experience was also that I played far more anti-sicilians than open sicilians. If I got to use my sveshnikov at all it was normally only once.

@12:53 I switched from Najdorf to Classical because I kept facing Bc4 attacks and it drives you nuts as black in bullet when you have to many threats to properly evaluate in the time and have to move. Instead of castles I have also tried Nd5. If Bxe7 Nxe7 which is fine. If exd5 Bxg5+, Kb1, exd5, Bxd5, 0-0. Seems a little better than straight up castling. But white still has a massive attack and Black has undeveloped pieces, coupled with a loose bishop. (Not the position with the queen on c7, sorry the position if queen on d8 and Nd7 played and white O-O-O.)

I also switched recently from BLK side Caro Kann which I have played for years to the Sicilian Kan. And find the Sicilian games for Blk are much more wild. It's good to have both choices. I can slow things down with the solid Caro or play aggressive with Sicilian Kan!

I'm citing this video as a source for a paper about the Sicilian Defense that I'm writing for my English class

Extra bonus, you can play the Hedgehog out of a Sicilian if it looks good. Love watching white try to break it too early and get creamed by the counterplay.

I've been primarily playing the Smith-Morra (with guidance from Marc Esserman's book) for about a year now, and it'll always have a special place in my heart as one of the things to get me back into chess, but you're absolutely right -- the Open Sicilian consistently produces unbelievable games. My main response to 1. e4 is the Najdorf, so I'm terribly well acquainted with how insane proper Sicilian attacks can get, haha. I'm going to start reincorporating the Open into my White repertoire now that I'm better equipped for its positions. The thing I miss most about playing 1...e5 is the Marshall Attack :(

I’ve considered playing d4 many times but I can’t give up the open Sicilian !

what course or book should i study to learn this opening?

Love and appreciate your content so thank you Sir!

So, I watched this and thought, yeah good point. Went and tried the open as white and got smothered mate against a higher rated player. Boom

Totally! Just played a FIDE tournament and 3 of my 4 wins were with open sicilians. One game was only 18 moves.

THANKYOU SOO MUCH! dear coach, do you think you would enjoy a video you look and analyze in detail , tactical sicilian games that you have a liking for? for more inspiration to us noobs love the work regardless! keep em coming baby

I am primarily a c4 player, but after watching this I need to get my dosage of the Sicilian.

Great selection of games ! You made you point beautifully ;)

Ahh so you are an Aussie. I can hear it in your accent every now and then haha. Thanks for the videos, you are doing a great job!

Great video. I've tried to jump to the Sicilian a few times, but at my level, I never get to play the Sicilian (as black). I have to play against anti-Sicilians almost exclusively, which takes a bit of the fun out. Edit: great point on (not) knowing theory and avoiding the sicilian because of it. Your opponent very likely doesn't either. It's so important to remember you're playing chess, not the sicilian, French, etc. as I believe you've pointed out elsewhere. My coach has pointed out times where I've played 'theory' i.e. memorized moves that didn't really fit the position.

"why would you avoid the open Sicilian" To play against it correctly, i need to know every variation my opponent might use against me. To play it against me correctly, my opponent needs to know ONE variation I don't know.

If you look at the Lichess player database, the anti sicilians score better than the open Sicilian. Most players have an anti Sicilian. I used to play the Sveschnikov Sicilian and rarely got it. The solid 10 Bxf6 line in the Sveschnikov has a large 64% draw rate in the Lichess master database. The exchange French isn't any worse really. As white I played 2. c3 Alapin and had good results. The Rossolimo is a good opening too. If you look at other openings besides Sicilians, e.g., Scandanavian Portuguese, Caro Kann advanced 3. ...c5, or French Poisoned Pawn Winawer -- Black scores *more* (better than white and better than open Sicilians) in the Lichess database. White often has a pet line (Wing gambits, Smith Morra, etc etc) v Sicilians, less so v anything else. How many club players have a pet line v Alekhine or 2. ...Nf6 Scandi? Recently I've been playing French and I notice white often over extends. A routine move and whites d4-e5 structure can be put under a lot of pressure. See Jonathon Schranz's youtube video: Easy Wins with the French Defense | The Power of the Blueprint. And even if you do get an open Sicilian and get your opening -- white can play almost anything and they're fine. g3 -- sure. f3 English attack, ya that's good too. Bc4 that's a line. Bg5, ya that's another line. f4 another.

"not the bongcloud" LOL

"No world champion since Botvinnik didn't have the Sicilian as part of their main repertoire" Then Along came ding liren

Watching this video for the first time, at the 1 minute mark… my answer? Because it’s in your very own, new 1.e4 course!!! :D

I think there is more to remember in Italian game. I get trapped alot in that but can improvise in Sicilian.

problem is that now at my level (around 1350 Lichess) nobody plays c5 against 1. e4 because all those big YT channel say not to. And when you play on the black side they go on some wierd closed stuff. I was one of them but i decided to stop. Thanks a lot for your changing my mind Andras! Edit: now at 1650 and everybody plays Bc4 stuff against e6 Sicilian

I want to learn this super cool 6.Bc4 Najdorf (I have always played 6.Be2 🤢) so do you recommend even for club level players without a coach to keep a file and try to develop it over time with analysis and engine work? I kind of worry trusting myself and not a stronger player’s analysis in a book or something.

I play the sicilian dragon,and I always get a great game when there is opposite side casting.

Okay Coach fair enough... want us to play open Sicilian, we'll play open Sicilian...but do a nice, detailed, lengthy series so we can finally move out of our comfort zones of playing the delayed Alapin and Closed Sicilian....

I'm a french plyr. U sold me when u said check a rino

I absolutely love the Sicilian but the Dragon usually gets no respect. Thank you for setting it straight!

Hi. Can you tell me the kramnik game you were talking about?

I just switched from Scandi to Sicilian (encouraged by the Amateur's Mind rant on openings. Like, video 3 or 5 in the series). Just decided to start playing it in my games and, boy, is it ever so much sharper than anything the Scandi ever gives you... Definitely going to be "investing in loss" for quite some time there.

Because it's the greatest opening in chess (either side).

Great coach, love you video's. Soon as you stop calling it repair-twaarr and instead rep-o-twar you'll go from great to perfect

Wow, it seems I was totally wrong about the sicilian. I will have to try it!

If only there were some overview videos on RU-vid on the Open Sicilian. Where do we go to get a nice overview of White's options (of which there are many)? Because there's a lot of content out there on the gambits (Morra and Wing, etc.), and Danya is a huge proponent of the Alapin and Shrantz shows the deadly traps of the Delayed Alapin. But I can hardly find one video even laying out the basic choices for white in the Open. I'd love to see an overview to "see what I'm buying" so to speak. For now, I've been having tons of fun with the Morra but I'm looking to my longevity in chess and starting to browse around. So far, I'm curious about the Alapin, or Rossolimo combined with Delayed Alapin (if they play 2...d6). But I'd be open to going straight for the sharpest/soundest lines in the Open if only I could get a nice overview. The thing is: Lines like the Alapin just score so much better, even up to Grandmaster level sometimes. The opening simply punishes black if they try to go for their typical Sicilian setups.

I tried Sicilian as a kid. I do not like the idea that I lose if I am a tempo too slow or make one inaccuracy in a sharp position. I've been playing caro kann for years now but the position may become boring depending on how white decides to play. Ideally there would be some sweet spot between sicilian and caro kann. Thoughts?

In alapin there are many traps too but i agree this looks more fun

Hey coach! Great video! I actually stopped playing the Sicilian as Black because I found out most of my opponents would actually reel out some boring anti sicilian against me. I never knew what to do and I hated it. Dropped the entire opening as a result. What's your advice to Black players facing so many Anti lines?

7:45 castling long side and opening up the king isnt that bad?

andreas guess what? I thought about your advice and now i have started playing the accelerated dragon via the hyper accelerated dragon move order to avoid the rossolimo its very interesting opening i love it perfect for me now i play both caro and sicillian accelerated dragon

I would like to play Sicilian again, but it's so complicated. And so tactical. It's like a minefield.

You mentioned the Kan variation for some type of players (positional?). I'm not good at tactics (but try to be better). Is the Kan even then a good choice for me. (I'm 1700 Lichess classic).

13:45 I'm confused. Assuming you don't see the thematic knight sac, why not just just take the rook with check before recapturing the bishop?

I feel like people who avoid the open sicil are fearful of losing. Even though the sicillian is one of the most double edged openings in all of chess. The better player truly wins.

As white how many variants do I have to learn/study as a starter? (I'm talking about games at 1700 lever Lichess classic). Are there some generic setup for white?

Siciliano for the win!

Play the Caro Kann and French are the real nightmares for e4 players...

I play the Sicilian like a MAFIA BOSS...

21:15 Spassky played closed sicilian tho?

Thanks!

Sir I totally agree but still there is too much theory, I am a caro player(who is tired of the boring positional games) but still sicillian is too theoretical so I will start playing sicillian when I am at least 1500 fide (currently 1156) till then I plan to improve on my tactics, positional play and endgame. I would have learned sicillian if I was a london player but I play e4... And u know against sicillian I play Grand prix which I dont think is boring right?

Is Morra Gambit a disgusting counter for sicilian for you?

Unfortunately the 1.e4 Repertoire for chessable comes with the Alapin.