A fun lovers Guide to the Sicilian Defence Chess Opening
What you'll learn
- Ability to maximise the fun to be had from one of the most fun chess openings in existence - the Sicilian defence
- Ability to decide which Sicilian Defence variations best suit your personality and style
- Ability to understand why world champions Mikhail Tal, Bobby Fischer, and Garry Kasparov made the Sicilian defence their major reply to 1.e4
- Ability to see absolute iconic game examples from the World champions using the Sicilian defence on both sides
- Ability to spend a lot of time inside the most amazing iconic Sicilian defence games in Chess History - learning a lot of things in the process
- Ability to to have a highly structured vehicle of variations to explore some of the most iconic and instructive Sicilian defence games in chess history
- Ability to use this course as a foundation for further investigation of the iconic games presented - getting maximum insight from each game example
- Ability to use variations to help train one's intuition and strength of evaluation - NOT to memorise the variations
- Ability to be better at evaluating positions - not trying to hard-code a win through memorisation but instead becoming a truly better chess player
- Ability to leverage the latest engine Neural network technology - never has been a better time to learn from variations
- Ability to see many games from World champions in their iconic game victories
- Ability to have "understanding" as opposed to "memorisation" to be able to evaluate positions more accurately independent of any position not seen before
- Ability be like Hart in the Paper chase understanding key concepts and principles as opposed to the memoriser who didn't do so well in his Law studies
- Ability to have maximum fun while learning by going through absolutely iconic games of chess in one of the most exciting chess openings there is
- Ability to appreciate some of the most amazing Sicilian defence games of all time
- Ability to improve navigational intuition for being appropriate for both sides in the Sicilian defence using tools such as "factual downsides" for navigation
- Ability to sharpen more the intuitive evaluation of positions within a variety of Sicilian defence variations and see common ideas across different variations
- Ability to see some of the greatest games of chess ever played in a structured way exploring particular variations of the Sicilian defence
- Ability to get a much better understanding of the Sicilian defence through analysing in depth some of the most iconic Sicilian defence games ever played
- Ability to get Sicilian Sveshnikov insights from multiple sections - Sicilian Four Knights by transposition and Rossolimo variations (aka "Anti-Sveshnikov")
- Ability see some of the most iconic chess games in history which are not only very interesting and fun but also often emphatically underline key principles
- Ability to sharpen understanding of chess core skill - tactical ability with respect to "factual downsides" in particular to help navigate tactics and strategy
- Ability to see more clearly why the Sicilian defence is the most popular choice for aggressive players with the black pieces vs 1.e4
- Ability to see the upsides of exchanging off a center pawn for a flank pawn in the Open sicilian variations
- Ability to understand the key up and downsides of major Sicilian Defence Chess Opening variations
- Ability to appreciate the strength of 2. Nc3 - closed variations or Grand Prix systems which is useful if wanting to use surprise 1. Nc3 and transposition
- Ability to appreciate the importance of creating imbalances in the opening from move 1 if playing for a win
- Ability to avoid symmetrical pawn structure which can arise in the French defence exchange variation
- Ability to restrict the classic d4 e4 pawn duo which often gives white a nagging advantage
- Ability to be more confident playing 1.e4 generally and facing the Sicilian defence as this course gives a variety of options to experiment with and enjoy
- Ability to appreciate one of the highest recommended openings for beginner to intermediate players who want to be involved in exciting fun winning chess
- Ability to have a focused magnifying glass tour of the Sicilian defence in particular if you have checked out the broader fun lover's guide to Chess Openings
- Ability to see a wide range of Sicilian defence pawn structures in action and appropriate plans and tactics implied
- Ability to see links and leverage insight of particular Sicilian defence variations for use in other variations where appropriate
- Ability to get winning patterns and concepts with or against a wide range of Anti-Sicilian systems White can use which are relatively unexplored
- Ability to spend a lot of time inside the most amazing iconic Sicilian defence games in Chess History - learning a lot of things in the process
Requirements
- Knows how the chess pieces move
Description
The Sicilian Defence has a wide range of variations which are fascinating to get an idea of why they exist, and interesting model games to check out which reinforce their specific features.
This course acts as your comprehensive tour guide to the Sicilian defence variations
Variations include:
The Scheveningen Variation is with 5 ....e6
The Sveshnikov variation features 2 ...Nc6 3. d4 cxd3 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 then the forcing move e5
The Accelerated Dragon features 4 ...g6
The Kalashnikov (reloaded!) variation features 4 ...e5 5.Nb5 d6
"Reloaded" version with 5 ...d6 instead of 5 ...a6
The Taimanov variation features 4 ...Nc6
The Kan (Paulsen) variation features 4 ...a6
The Pin variation which is not entirely sound features 4 ...Nf6 5 Nc3 Bb4
The Moscow variation features an early 3 .Bb5+
The Rossolimo variation has a similar Bb5 but without being check because Black has a knight on c6:
The Hyper-Accelerated Dragon features 2 ...g6
The O'Kelly Variation features 2 ...a6
The Nimzowitsch-Rubinstein Variation features 2 ...Nf6
The Closed Sicilian features 2 .Nc3
The Alapin variation features 2 .c3
The Smith-Morra Gambit (a personal favorite!)
With this tour guide, you can get an idea of the pros and cons of each variation, and become more specialist in your favourite variations. Also, you can simply enjoy the amazing game examples the course provides and boost your chess understanding generally.
Who this course is for:
- Beginner to Intermediate level players
Instructor
![Tryfon Gavriel](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 64 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E){kind=avatar}
- 4.7 Instructor Rating
- 1,530 Reviews
- 6,799 Students
- 22 Courses
Tryfon Gavriel, also known as "Kingscrusher" on the Internet. I am a FIDE Candidate Master (CM), British Regional Chess Master, and run a popular Youtube channel for many years with over 114k+ Subs as of 2021 and a Silver Button Award.
I have done many shows on commercial chess servers. I am also the Webmaster of the correspondence style chess server Chessworld which emphasizes game quality and research.
Playing experience
Over 35 years of playing activity both online and offline. Peak ICC blitz rating of 2625 (18-Jun-1999). Peak ICC 5 min auto-pairing of 2383 (29-Jun 2012). ECF Grading peak classical: 212 (A) ECF. Peak Rapid rating: 217 (C). Lichess marathon top 10 finishers in 3 marathons so far. In the other two, top 50 finishers. Won quite a few tournaments at lichess
One of my earliest Over-the-board achievements in Chess was winning the Lloyds Under 18 national UK tournament in 1989. My trophy was awarded to me by Grandmaster and Ph.D. Mathematician Dr John Nunn.
Teaching experience
I have done teaching in Schools and also have done teaching online with several Lichess students on a regular basis, and have a very good coaching rating at lichess.
Other experiences
Played twice in the main British Chess championship. Many of my Youtube viewers claim big rating increases after watching my videos.
Best skills
I particularly love chess tactics and combinations, and it is probably no accident that my "Complete Guide to Chess Tactics" has been a best-seller since near inception here at Udemy.
In general, I will try and give you greater enthusiasm for the game and in particular the dynamic aggressive tactical aspects of playing chess. My favorite heroes are Paul Morphy, Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov, and Mikhail Tal. if you want to be a dynamic aggressive player, I may be able to encourage you and find you relevant resources on that path. The dynamic aggressive were particularly strong tactically and would often trade off pawn structure neatness and material to try and checkmate the opponent's kings. Checkmate does win the game :)
Chess Openings
In terms of concrete openings to make use of potentially teaching here at Udemy through courses, I like Solid openings on such as the London System. I also like provocative openings like the Knight's Tango systems to encourage weaknesses from opponents. I am also at faster time controls especially, particularly fond of aggressive openings and gambits. As an example, the Smith-Morra Gambit vs the Sicilian Defence, and other gambits can be used aggressively even with the black pieces such as the Albin Counter Gambit. Gambits vary of course in soundness and it is important to teach what "ticks many boxes" for use in various time controls. In the search for the ideal courses to provide you, I like to search within myself for my core strengths and passions within the passion of Chess.
I truly hope you enjoy my courses and they improve your chess and your enjoyment of chess generally - and life generally :)