Sicilian - Describe your favorite

I am considering becoming a Sicilian player (up till now I always played 1...e5). I am wondering what is a good system to start with? Sicilian players, please post your pet system and describe the type of play that typically develops...

I am looking for a system that offers good development and good attacking chances. I don't want to be defending the whole time hoping to grind out a win in the endgame if I can survive the attack with my king in the center.

Also, any tips or generalizations on the Sicilian system and how I should approach starting to learn it would be greatly appreciated...

Thank you for your post. I don't care what your rating is if you like to play the Sicilian I will enjoy reading what you have to say.

I prefer playing the Najdorf or Accelerated Dragon. If I had to pick between the two, I would recommend the Najdorf to you. I think you will like the tactical possibilities that arise out of it.

I have played the Dragon for quite a while. It's certainly the most uncompromising Sicilian system and probably the wildest. If you like opposite sides castling situations and all manners of sacrifices and daring-do, then this is probably a decent choice. I haven't checked your rating, but it gets quite sharp and requires a good tactical eye from both players, and also alot of theoretical work to learn all the intricacies and sharp lines. If you decide to take it up, you may want to start out with Martins "Starting Out: The Sicilian Dragon" and then move onto the best work out right now, "Play the Sicilian Dragon" by Eddie Dearing.

My pet system is the Kalashnikov/Sveshnikov--reckless and wild! Lately, I've been playing the Kan--complex positional struggles.

(I've switched from the Sicilian to the French for most of my serious games, but was a Sicilian devotee for 25 years.)

Matter of fact, I'm playing a game right now, where I tried to go into the old Four Knight Variation, but my opponent doesn't seem to know the line.

I play the Sveshnikov which is all about piece activity. Naturally this leads often to tactical complications, however it's not nearly as bad as the dragon.

Hyper-Accelerated Dragon

Originally posted by exigentsky
Hyper-Accelerated Dragon

Boo!

Tony got it right - Dragon.

Smaug gets second for the Taimanov recommendation.

Originally posted by Wulebgr
My pet system is the Kalashnikov/Sveshnikov--reckless and wild! Lately, I've been playing the Kan--complex positional struggles.

(I've switched from the Sicilian to the French for most of my serious games, but was a Sicilian devotee for 25 years.)

That's odd. I played the French for over 10 years and switched to the Sicilian. I like the Sicilian much better cause there are more tactics for both sides.

Originally posted by exigentsky
Hyper-Accelerated Dragon

What makes a dragon hyper-accelerated?

Originally posted by LordofADown
What makes a dragon hyper-accelerated?

A warp drive.


LOL...


anyway, I have recently started to play the sicillian and I find that the a6 of the najdorf is useful, but in the najdorf black aims to play e4 sometimes. I have decided on the dragon line and sometimes play a6 if necessary. I usually try for a slower piece development while hindering whites knights, eventually attempting to gain the initiative and complete my development at the same time.

It's a lot easier to say the Dragon is bad like everyone else than to figure out why and say it. 😀

Originally posted by Spacetime
I am considering becoming a Sicilian player (up till now I always played 1...e5). I am wondering what is a good system to start with? Sicilian players, please post your pet system and describe the type of play that typically develops...

I am looking for a system that offers good development and good attacking chances. I don't want to be defending the ...[text shortened]... hat your rating is if you like to play the Sicilian I will enjoy reading what you have to say.

Najdorf is cool for me, but lately I've been playing the Sicilian Kan attempting to avoid theoretical lines. It is very good to play for a class player in my opinion.