Get Shankland’s Sicilian Repertoire for FREE
Is this the perfect Sicilian for club players?
If you watch chess at the Super-Grandmaster level, you’d be forgiven for thinking there are only two kinds of Sicilians: the Najdorf and the Sveshnikov.
These two hog the spotlight at the highest level. But, if you try to play them at club level, you soon discover a problem…
They’ve been analyzed to death.
So unless you enjoy memorizing your openings to move 20, there’s a better option: The Classical Sicilian.
“It leads to dynamic, unbalanced positions without nearly as much forcing theory as other Sicilians”
That’s according to Grandmaster - and former US Champion - Sam Shankland. GM Shankland says:
“I have been playing the Classical Sicilian almost exclusively for some time now, and with a lot of success, so it seemed like an easy decision that this should be what I recommend. I had not played it much before 2020, but now that I have added it to my repertoire, I really wonder why I had largely avoided it for so long. I think it is one of the best possible lines to play for a win with the black pieces, as it leads to dynamic, unbalanced positions without nearly as much forcing theory as other Sicilians, such as the Najdorf and the Sveshnikov.”
And, in this FREE course, Sam’s here to share his unique approach to playing the Classical.
How to use the Classical to transpose to favorable versions of the Dragon
And part of that unique approach is to use the Classical Sicilian as a transpositional tool. As Sam explains:
One nice thing about the Classical Sicilian is that it allows Black to transpose to the Dragon next move with ...g7-g6 against a lot of White's extraneous tries. The best setup for White against the Dragon involves f2-f3, Bc1-e3, and Bf1-c4 is optional. Against any of these moves, I don't think going for a kingside fianchetto is too clever. But most other sidelines can be comfortably met with ...g7-g6.
So in this free Short & Sweet, Sam reveals:
🎯 When to transpose into
favorable variations of the Dragon🎯 How to
gain time by chasing White’s bishop if he plays 6.Bc4
🎯 What to do against
early f3 or Be3 moves 🎯
Why you should NEVER castle early if White plays 6.Bg5
🎯 The “h5 rule” - how to know when you can
stop White’s pawn storm in its tracks by playing ...h7-h5
Not only that, but Sam even covers you against White’s most common anti-Sicilians: the
Alapin (2.c3), the
Moscow (3.Bb5+), the
Closed (2.Nc3). He even covers the
Morra Gambit (spoiler: Sam says take the free pawn).
All of this - and more - is revealed
FREE in 59 minutes of video and 31 trainable variations.
So why don’t you discover the Classical Sicilian today?
