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What Sicilian Should You Play?

Chessable

15,420 views

The Sicilian Defense is one of the most popular openings and within it, there are many variations. In this video, IM Christof Sielecki (a.k.a. Chess Explained) breaks down the major variations to help you pick the one that is most suitable for you.

👉 Check out Chessable courses by IM Christof Sielecki: https://www.chessable.com/author/Ches...

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Intro
00:27 Basics of Sicilian Defense
01:50 Note about Anti-Sicilians
03:05 Najdorf Sicilian
05:35 Dragon Sicilian
07:23 Accelerated Dragon
08:37 Scheveningen
09:53 Classical Sicilian
11:46 Taimanov/Paulsen Sicilian
14:16 Four Knights Sicilian
16:11 Sveshnikov Sicilian
18:50 Kalashnikov Sicilian
20:10 O’Kelly
21:52 Conclusion

20 Comments

@bertiebebop7068 14 hours ago

Your pronunciation of "Maróczy" may have been off, but "Scheveningen" was right on the mark! 💪

@brayanchaves8198 5 months ago

I miss your videos, “Chessexplained”! Cheers from Brazil!

@ChessLion 5 months ago

Regarding the naming of the Kalashnikov variant, I quote Daniel King from his book published in 2022:
John van der Wiel, a Dutch Grandmaster who was one of the earliest adopters of the opening in the 1980s boom, introduce the name in the magazine New in Chess [...] As he explained to me:
'It was an inside joke amongst some players from my region in the Netherlands back then. Something like "a primitive weapon, but it never jams". To my great surprise, others embraced this name and now it is the "official" name.'
There you have it - from the horse's mouth, so to speak,
[King's Kalaschnikov Sicilian ; chessable ; Daniel King ; London ; 2022]

@rommelbueno423 5 months ago

I still love your sicilian sveshnekov.

@innocent_gray 5 months ago

I originally learned the Sicilian from your Play Like Magnus repertoire!

@AdamGenesisArt 5 months ago

Good overview of the Sicilian!!! 😎So many variations exists

@seanlee7054 5 months ago

Next video should be which Scandinavian should you play?

@Cris_CoOL_Chess 5 months ago

Danke Christof für das Video!
Ich hoffe, es geht dir gut.

@lilhaxxor 5 months ago

18:55 There is only one Sicilian to play: The Kalashnikov !!! 😄

@sandeepverygoodvedeo8693 1 month ago

Thanks very much

@lucianocastello9260 5 months ago

Very clear explainations, thanks!

@BM_Uriel 5 months ago

I was wondering exactly about this

@fairtrue4557 5 months ago

taimanov variation is the best!

@kirkd1631 5 months ago

Need to try the 4 knights

@joaobatistajosedarocha7267 5 months ago

Najdorf

@azisbachrun7553 5 months ago

Thank you for the video. As a beginner, I've been playing Caro-Kann against 1. e4 since I started learning chess. I've been wanting to learn Sicilian, but I always don't know where to start. Your video is very helpful.