Mastering the Sicilian - download book

   An excerpt from the first chapter of the book.

   The Scheveningen pawn structure (where Black plays ...e6 and ...d6, typically with knights on f6 and c6) is characterized by solidity, flexibility, and compactness. The Sicilian and its diverse systems have a unique appeal in that in general they offer Black the superior pawn structure. This is quite a remarkable statement let us see whether it is indeed true!

   My first reason for drawing this conclusion is that in the Open Sicilian (after 3 d4 cxd4) Black emerges with two central pawns against White's lone e-pawn. Secondly, Black has a compact and sound structure, offering him excellent chances of gaming a lever with ...d5 after which he can exchange ofi White's only central pawn (the e4-pawn) or create a protected passed pawn if White's e-pawn advances to e5. It should also be mentioned that in the Sicilian Black emerges with more span (six squares, from c8 to c3 on his half-open c-file) than White has on his half-open d-file (five squares from d1 to d6). Sometimes White combats Black's span on the c-file with c3, but, in general, this doesn't do much for the mobility of White's queenside since b3 would then leave the White c-pawn backward.

Author: Danny Kopec
Title: "Mastering the Sicilian"
Released: 2003
Format: rar/pdf
Quality: good
Number of pages: 68
Size: 6 Mb