What Type of Sicilian Do YOU Play?

Pretty much ever since I discovered it, I've been a advocate of the Sicilian against 1. e4. As with most new-comers to the Sicilian, I started with the Najdorf, and, as expected, I had various results. I've since begun branching out somewhat, trying other lines and systems. For example, I've tried the Dragon, but I can definitely tell it's not for me. I've also had a few encounters with anti-Sicilians, again with varying results.

Moving on, I'm curious hear some suggestions from anyone who plays the Sicilian, and specifically which line(s) and why. In particular, I'm interested in lines other than the Najdorf and Dragon (but still open Sicilians).

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Thanks for the suggestions; I had actually been considering the Classical myself as of late. Do you have any particular games you played with (or against) the Classical? Also, do you have any particular book reccommendations?

I play the dragon wherever possible but often have to play the classical or kan variations when people try a more closed system against me.

Scheveningen.
Reason: I happened to buy a book many years ago by Kasparov and Nikitin on the ...e6 & ...d6 Sicilian. It is still played at top levels and as I don't want to spend more time than I need to studying openings I've stuck with it. I find the positions are unbalanced which I like. However, most of the time at my level white plays an anti-Sicilian or deviates from theory (that I know) very early on.

Perhaps you should be guided by the type of positions that you like. For example the Taimanov and Kan will generally be more positional than the Dragon or Najdorf.

I started with the classical with moderate results against my age group (under 12, anything would have worked).

In high school I tinkered and played poorly with the dragon, tried the najdorf but settled on the schevenigan.

Nowadays I play Sveshnikov when I play the sicillian at all. I really like the piece activity and whole board play without being quite as sharp as the dragon.

Well, i never play sicilian as black, by as white i play open sicilian or the smith-morra gambit

Does anyone have any specific book reccommendations? Especially as there are so many books on the Sicilians nowadays...

Originally posted by wittywonka
Does anyone have any specific book reccommendations? Especially as there are so many books on the Sicilians nowadays...

You might want to try Play the Kalashnikov, from Aagard and Pinski, Everyman Chess.

Originally posted by wittywonka
Pretty much ever since I discovered it, I've been a advocate of the Sicilian against 1. e4. As with most new-comers to the Sicilian, I started with the Najdorf, and, as expected, I had various results. I've since begun branching out somewhat, trying other lines and systems. For example, I've tried the Dragon, but I can definitely tell it's not for me. ar, I'm interested in lines other than the Najdorf and Dragon (but still open Sicilians).

Why would you start with the Najdorf!? It's probably the most complex and theoretical Sicilian out there. Even Garry Kasparov mentioned that this is not the Sicilian to start with. He claimed the Dragon was best at quickly teaching basic Sicilian ideas.

Anyway, I started with the Accelerated Dragon, briefly tried basically every other Sicilian and now I'm trying to learn the Najdorf. I recommend you try the Kan, Svesnikov and maybe Accelerated Dragon if the bind doesn't bother you.

Originally posted by wittywonka
Pretty much ever since I discovered it, I've been a advocate of the Sicilian against 1. e4. As with most new-comers to the Sicilian, I started with the Najdorf, and, as expected, I had various results. I've since begun branching out somewhat, trying other lines and systems. For example, I've tried the Dragon, but I can definitely tell it's not for me. ar, I'm interested in lines other than the Najdorf and Dragon (but still open Sicilians).

Here is a game I played with the poison pawn variation. But as black you can't force this variation it relies on white choosing the variation but you should still know it. By the way I'm using the black pieces

[Event "Let's play chess"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?bd=8284272"]
[Date "2007.10.13"]
[Round "-"]
[White "zenbishop"]
[Black "hello232"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1547"]
[BlackElo "1200"]
[TimeControl "1/259200"]
[Mode "ICS"]
[Termination "normal"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6
6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. Bxf6 gxf6
11. Be2 Nc6 12. O-O Bd7 13. Rxb7 Na5 14. Rbb1 Rc8 15. Nb3 Nc4
16. Bxc4 Rxc4 17. Qd3 Bb5 18. Nxb5 axb5 19. f5 Qxa2 20. Nd4 e5
21. Nxb5 Rxc2 22. Nxd6+ Bxd6 23. Kh1 Rxg2 24. Qb5+ Kf8 0-1