D'Costa Lorin, Murphy Nick. A Repertoire Against The Sicilian (SDVL)

Chessbase, 2015. — EAN: 9783866814585.Death and taxes apart, there can be few eventualities as predictable as 1.e4 being countered by 1...c5; play the one and, sooner or later, you'll see the other. It's about as close to a guarantee as White can get over the 64 squares and, being such, should be an eventuality every king's pawn pusher should be prepared for.The problem, of course, is that, in the chess world, popularity breeds analytical knowledge. Any 1.e4 player, especially those in the process of building an opening repertoire, will know the sense of uncertainty that accompanies heading into an Open Sicilian – an uncertainty born of the suspicion that your opponent knows a little more than you do about this most analysed of openings.A Repertoire against the Sicilian sets out to lay these suspicions to rest. There are four ways Black usually responds after the usual 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3, with 2...Nc6, 2...d6, 2...e6 and 2...g6 thought to give the best chances to the second player. Lorin D'Costa and Nick Murphy work through responses to each of these that allow White to avoid any main line preparation his or her opponent may have in store, and it's a method that makes the continuations very attractive.The illustrative games (23 in all) look at 3.Bb5 (against 2...Nc6 and 2...d6), 3.d4 (against 2...g6) and 3.g3/b3 (against 2...e6) as the recommended ideas and they're all shown to be effective gateways to clashes which, as D'Costa puts it, “aren't forced variations”, and not the sort “where you need to find the moves or you lose”. This is exactly what a great number of players can immediately benefit from; acting effectively as quick equalizers against the better-prepared, these offerings are tailor-made for those who are simply not as familiar with the traditional Sicilian byways as some of their more experienced opponent.Nick Murphy is an actor and chess enthusiast - and an acknowledged chess software expert. Born in Yorkshire and living in London, he has released two DVDs: “Guide to ChessBase” & “Guide to Fritz” and regularly provides videos for chessbase.com on how to get the most from new ChessBase software.