Starting Out: Closed Sicilian By Richard Palliser
First published in 2006 by Gloucester Publishers plc (formerly Everyman Publishers plc), Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London EC1V 0AT Copyright © 2006 Richard Palliser The right of Richard Palliser to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: 1 85744 414 0 ISBN13: 9781 85744 414 8 Distributed in North America by The Globe Pequot Press, P.O Box 480, 246 Goose Lane, Guilford, CT 06437-0480. All other sales enquiries should be directed to Everyman Chess, Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London EC1V 0AT tel: 020 7253 7887; fax: 020 7490 3708 email:
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Contents
Bibliography and Acknowledgements Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
4 5
Sp a s s k y ’ s6f 4 : Th eMa i nL i n ewi t h6 . . . e 6 Sp a s s k y ’ s6f 4 : Bl a c k ’ sOt h e rDe f e n c e s The Fashionable 6 Be3: 6...e6 and 6...e5 The Fas h i o n a b l e6Be 3 : Bl a c k ’ sAl t e r n a t i v eSe t -ups The Tricky 6 Nge2 and 6 Nh3 Early Black Deviations Crafty Move-orders: 2 d3 & 2 g3
20 66 97 126 143 165 183
Index of Variations Index of Complete Games
202 207
Bibliography Books Anti-Sicilians: A Guide for Black, Dorian Rogozenko (Gambit 2003) Attacking with 1 e4, John Emms (Everyman 2001) Beating the Anti-Sicilians, Joe Gallagher (Batsford 1994) Closed System of the Sicilian Defence, Attila Schneider (Caissa Chess Books 1999) Garry Kasparov on My Great Predecessors: Part II, Garry Kasparov (Everyman 2003) Garry Kasparov on My Great Predecessors: Part III, Garry Kasparov (Everyman 2004) Meeting 1 e4, Alex Raetsky (Everyman 2002) Nunn’ sChe s sOpe ni ngs , John Nunn, Graham Burgess, John Emms & Joe Gallagher (Everyman 1999) St ar t i ngOut :TheKi ng’ sI ndi anAt t ac k, John Emms (Everyman 2005) The Closed Sicilian, Daniel King (The Chess Press 1997) The Closed Sicilian, Vaidyanathan Ravikumar (Tournament Chess 1993) The Ultimate Closed Sicilian, Gary Lane (Batsford 2001)
Magazines and Databases Chess Informant; www.chesspublishing.com; MegaCorr 4; Big Database 2005 and New In Chess Yearbook
Acknowledgments Thanks are due to John Emms, Paul Hopwood and Norman Stephenson for locating and lending some very useful material, and to Andrew Ledger for sharing his thoughts on some of his Closed Sicilian games.
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Introduction 1 e4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 g3 g6 4 Bg2 Bg7 5 d3 d6 (Diagram 1)
W________W [rDb1kDn4] [0pDW0pgp] [WDn0WDpD] [DW0WDWDW] [WDWDPDWD] [DWHPDW)W] [P)PDW)B)] [$WGQIWHR] W--------W
W________W [WDWDWDkD] [0pDWDpDp] [WDW0pDpD] [DW0WDWDW] [WDWDP)WD] [DWDPDW)W] [P)PDWDW)] [DWDWDWIW] W--------W
Diagram 1 (W) The Closed Sicilian
Diagram 2 The usual Closed structure
The Closed Sicilian is a reliable and promising weapon for those keen to avoid all the theory of the numerous Open Sicilian variations. It can be handled pos i t i onal l y,butnobodys houl dbef ool edbyWhi t e’ sappar ent l ys l ow bui l d-up; his main plan is a gradual kingside advance leading to a mating attack against the black monarch. As we will discover on our journey through the Closed Sicilian, it remains an opening where a good understanding of the important attacking and positional motifs is more important than knowledge of specific moves and variations. The key plans which both sides can employ are highlighted throughout this work, while the illustrative games have often been chosen more from an inspirational perspective than to display the latest theory. Both sides can play
5
Starting Out: Closed Sicilian fairly sharply or relatively theoretically at times, but, while exploring such lines can be great fun and lead to practical success, there is usually a quieter and no less effective alternative for White which puts the emphasis back on to general understanding of the Closed Sicilian and its typical structure (Diagram 2). Diagram 2 depicts the most common of all pawn structures in the Closed Sicilian, and Black will usually be fairly harmoniously developed with a bishop on g7 and a knight on e7 as he aims to prevent a strong f5-break. White should always be on the look-out to force that through, but he must be aware that any preparatory advance of the g-pawn needs to be well timed. A premature g4 can often be strongly met by ...f5; not only holding White up on the kingside but also often leaving him a little overextended. White often aims to transfer as many pieces as possible to the kingside before advancing with f5, but an early advance of the pawn to f4 is actually no longer especially popular. White still aims for f4-f5, but he will often preface that nowadays with Be3 and Qd2. In one fell swoop he is then able to exchange off the dark-squared bishops with Bh6: eliminating any pressure down the long a1-h8 diagonal and crucially weakening the black monar c h’ sdef enc es . A look at the structure quickly reveals that Black is vulnerable to f4-f5, but which advances should he be concentrating on? He can sometimes even play ...f5 without waiting for g4, but ...d5 is often not especially effective. White tends to have e4 well defended and, not minding a further closing of the posit i on,i s n’ tt oounhappy to see the black d-pawn advance on to d4. A ...d5 break can also be met by e5; an advance which if well timed will blunt the g7-bishop and leave the black structure a little static, although if mistimed it can be well met by an immediate and liberating ...f6. Thus Black often prefers to remain quite flexible in the centre deep into the middlegame, instead focussing his efforts upon a rapid advance of his queenside pawns.
Piece Placement One drawback to focussing too intently upon the pawn structure is that we can fail to fully take into account how the position of the pieces may affect the role of the pawns. A knight on f6, for instance, may well encourage White to throw his f- and g-pawns up the board. White for his part will usually keep his queen’ skni ghtonc 3i nt ot heear l ymi ddl egameandt her ei tc an,j us tl i ket he black e6- and g6-pawns are to the f5-break, act as a target for the black queenside pawns to latch on to. Bl ac k’ smai nwayofobtaining counterplay is to advance on the queenside, supported by the g7-bishop, as well as to make use of the d4-square; a square which it can be hard for White to contest so long as his knight remains on c3. Thus the wise Closed Sicilian player will often quickly reroute his knight from c3 to e2 or even to d1, after which c3 will evict the black knight from d4 when White can press ahead on the kingside and sometimes also take over the cen6
Introduction tral initiative. For a model demonstration of that effective plan, let ’ ss eeoneof t hewor l d’ ss t r onges tCl os edSi c i l i anexponents in action. Game 1 M.Adams G.Sax Bundesliga 1997 1 e4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 g3 g6 4 Bg2 Bg7 5 d3 d6 6 Be3 Before launching his f-pawn, Adams intends to quickly complete his development and already White is angling for an exchange of the dark-squared bishops. 6...Rb8 7 Qd2 b5 8 Nge2 Nd4 9 0-0 b4 10 Nd1 Qc7?! Black has countered aggressively if logically early on, but cannot afford to lose time like this. Sax may have enjoyed a long and successful career as a grandmas t er ,butevenhei s n’ tf ami l i arwi t hal loft heCl os edSi c i l i an’ s subtleties. The queen only stands well on c7 should White half-open the c-file with an exchange on d4, but that is a capture he most certainly does not want to make. 11 Nc1! (Diagram 3)
W________W [W4bDkDn4] [0W1W0pgp] [WDW0WDpD] [DW0WDWDW] [W0WhPDWD] [DWDPGW)W] [P)P!W)B)] [$WHNDRIW] W--------W
W________W [W4bDW4WD] [0W1WDpip] [WDn0WhpD] [DW0W0WDW] [WDWDP)WD] [DW)PHW)W] [PDW!WDB)] [$WHWDRIW] W--------W
Diagram 3 (B) Preparing to drive Black backwards
Diagram 4 (B) ‘ ff orf or war d! ’
NOTE: The white knights are far from unhappy on c1 and d1 and, as Black can no longer exchange on e2, the d4-knight will shortly have to retreat. Once it has done so the white pieces are quick to control the centre and to look for a kingside attack.
11...Nf6 12 c3 bxc3 13 bxc3 Nc6 14 Bh6! 0-0 15 Bxg7 Kxg7 16 Ne3 Adams has completed the initial stages of his overall plan by evicting the black knight from d4 and by weakening the dark squares around the black king. Sax, on the other hand, is a little low on counterplay, although his next mos tc er t ai nl ydoes n’ thel pmat t er sasWhi t ewant st oadvanc eont heki ngs i de 7
Starting Out: Closed Sicilian in any case. 16...e5?! Another good example of how White can get the better of Sicilian theoryophiles with the Closed Sicilian was A.Ledger-K.Sakaev, Cappelle la Grande 1997. Konstantin Sakaev is a respected theoretician who has worked for Kaspar ov,butt hatdi dn’ tpr eventhi mf r om r eac hi ngt hi sunpl eas antpos i t i on. However ,atl eas thedi dn’ tweakenhi ms el fdownt hef -file, preferring 16...Ba6. Even so, after 17 f4 Qb6 18 Rf2 e6 19 Nb3! Nd7 20 f5 Nce5 21 c4 Black was held up on the queenside, while White could simply double rooks. Indeed one s us pec t st hati twasc hi ef l ySakaev’ smuc hhi gherr at i ngwhi c hs avedhi m when he offered a draw just five moves later. 17 f4! (Diagram 4) 17...Ne7 18 Ne2 Bb7 19 g4!
