Against the Sicilian

• At a glance

  Against the Sicilian

  462 games, 63.9%: your 2.a3 works. But three specific positions cost you points that the engine doesn't lose.

  19 cards, one idea each. Swipe to move on.

• The big idea

  Against 1…c5, you play neither Nf3 nor d4: you play 2.a3: 352 games in this family, by far your most frequent move. It's a simple deal.

• The big idea

  You prepare b4 to tear the c5 pawn away from the center, then c3 and d4 to build the two-pawn center the Sicilian usually denies White.

• The big idea

  The price: if Black accepts, it's a real gambit, you give back a pawn.

• The big idea

  What you buy is concrete: the open a-file for your rook, a tempo on the knight that took on b4, and an unopposed e4-d4 center.

• The big idea

  The engine rates these positions as equal, and your numbers say better than that: 81% in the 45 games where Black took on b4 with 2…Nc6.

• The big idea

  The problem isn't the opening, it's three crossroads. An h4-g4 push that wins against the castled king and loses against the king still on e8.

• The big idea

  An automatic 4.c4 against 2…Nf6 when 4.d4 is the move. And a French structure, after 2…e6, where you score only 20% when the black bishop goes back to f8.

• The big idea

  This course takes each of these crossroads in turn, in the order you meet them.

• Principle

  The b4 gambit is a real gambit

  Your games: 34× · 81% of points

  After 3.b4 cxb4 4.axb4 Nxb4, you're a pawn down. Your compensation isn't the pawn: it's c3 with tempo, then d4 and a center the c5 pawn no longer contests.

• Principle

  You attack a king, not a square

  Your games: 9× · 83% of points

  h4-h5 and g4 only work if the black king is on g8. Against the castled king, 8.g4 opens the h-file toward it. Against a king still on e8, the same push only weakens your own camp.

• Principle

  Against 2…Nf6, the center before the knight

  Your games: 30× · 58% of points

  After 3.e5 Nd5, 4.d4 supports e5 and brings the queen out to d4 safely. Chasing the knight with c4 only sends it to c7, where it eyes e6 and d5.

• Principle

  Develop before you push

  Your games: 5× · 20% of points

  In the French structure (c3-d4-e5), Bd3, Nf3 and castling first. A premature Qg4 or f4 costs half a pawn by the engine: Black answers with …b5-b4 before your king is safe.

• Imbalance

  A pawn against the center

  Your games: 34× · 81% of points

  In the accepted gambit, Black has an extra pawn on the queenside, White has d4 and e4 with no black central pawn facing them.

• Imbalance

  The open a-file

  Your games: 16× · 94% of points

  axb4 opens the a-file: your a1 rook eyes a7 without having moved. That's what makes the knight on b5 so dangerous, with c7 and a7 in its range.

• Imbalance

  The a2 bishop

  Your games: 34× · 68% of points

  Your light-squared bishop drops back to a2 as soon as …b5 or …d5 threatens it. From there, it eyes f7 across the whole board and can no longer be traded off by a knight on a5.

• The trade-off

  What you gain

  • Black is out of their theory from the second move.
  • The b4 gambit gives a two-pawn center and the a-file, for a pawn.
  • The a2 bishop and the h4 push give a clear attacking plan against the castled king.
  • Your numbers: 63.9% over 462 games, above your average with White.
• The trade-off

  What you give up

  • 2.a3 develops nothing: if Black doesn't let b4 work, it's a wasted tempo.
  • The accepted gambit leaves you a pawn down if the center doesn't hold.
  • The h4 push is a reflex: it only works against the castled king.
  • Against 2…e6, the French structure calls for a plan you don't play yet.
• That's all

  Your turn

  These ideas only stick once you play the moves. The chapters make you find the right ones.

  Start chapter 1

Card 1 of 19: Against the Sicilian

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