The Sicilian Defense is the most widely played chess opening, both at club level as well as among top grandmasters.It is an opening every 1.e4 player should look at as it is fundamental to chess learning.
Since Black gets dynamic play in almost all variations, black players of all levels will probably continue to play the Sicilian for a long time to come.
Here Jesus De La Villa, author of the classic
100 Endgames You Must Know, and his co-author, the Australian GM Max Illingworth, present a complete repertoire to rebuff Black's most challenging try.
Combat the Sicilian Defense
It has been difficult for White to obtain any advantage in Sicilian sidelines, and this book therefore presents a complete repertoire for White in the most widely played main lines: the Open Sicilians with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3.
All of Black's possible answers are covered. 'Dismantling the Sicilian' is clearly organized, and each variation is presented with its history, its main ideas, its typical tactics and strategies, and with instructive games.
The author thoroughly explains the relevant themes and always summarizes the most important features.
This Chessable edition is adapted from the latest edition of Dismantling the Sicilian, which was updated and extended from the original 2009 publication.
Dismantling the Sicilian reviews
"This book has to get extra credit for having a very generous selection of recent games at the highest level. The chapter have summaries and the themes and strategic ideas are highlighted in a very accessible and exciting format (..) This book’s new edition is so good it made me regret all the White games where I had be slaughtered by Black because I did not know how to handle Black’s Sicilian variation."
Michael Mkpadi, ChessHot
"An essential book for club players who wish to combat the Open Sicilian in a fundamental way."
Florian Jacobs, Max Euwe Centre Amsterdam
"A smashing update!"
Elburg Chess Reviews
"A bonus chapter at the end of the book entitled ‘What others recommend and why I disagree’ (..) includes lines that don’t necessarily fit into the finale repertoire Illingworth is advocating, but which helps explain why he chose what he did. There is some fascinating stuff here, and the non-professional will be surprised how theory has changed (..) These new advances can be seen in Illingworth’s assessment of the health of various Sicilian lines these days (..) Numerous well-annotated model games supplement the theoretical sections of each chapter, making this book accessible for a wide range of players."
IM John Donaldson
