Play The Open Sicilian Part2 by GM Miguel Santos

And judging by the course’s near-5-star rating Miguel is as skillful teaching it as he is playing it.

Part 1 of the course, put in dire straits some of the most popular Sicilian variations, like the Najdorf, the Sveshnikov, and the Classical, among many others.

With this Part 2, Miguel completes a repertoire with one objective: to be crushing.

In this course, you will learn novel but reliable methods to fight the Dragon family of variations, and 2…e6 Sicilians. And while the similarities may not be immediately obvious, Miguel’s recipe to simplify your study against them all is the same:

Prevent your Opponents’ Counterplay
with Clever Move Orders and Active Prophylaxis

The common theme in both parts of Play the Open Sicilian is that Miguel’s recommendations capitalize on White’s space advantage, avoid your opponent’s ideas, and make the middlegame unbearable for them.

To achieve this, Miguel recommends the Maroczy structure, with pawns on e4 and c4, ensuring space in the center and hindering Black’s dream pawn break on d5. But, you won’t get there traditionally.

In fact, on several occasions, you won’t get there! In the course, you will learn the best move orders and tricks among transpositions to obtain the most favorable versions against each variation.

Flexibility among setups will be your philosophy!

If Black knows the subtleties of each variation, they will have to settle for a slow game with no active possibilities. But if not, you’ll take the first opportunity to accelerate the game’s speed and attack!

Here’s what your repertoire will look like:

Taimanov Variation – The a2-a3 idea -sometimes played as early as move 5!- is one of the most recurrent in this repertoire and the main weapon against the popular Taimanov variation. It prevents a potential pin on b4, it helps stop Black’s typical breakthrough on the queenside, and it allows you to transpose a Maroczy later on. But more dangerously, it “passes the ball” to the opponent to get valuable information about what development setup to go for. It’s quite a modest move, but you’ll be surprised by how easily Black can be helpless after just 15 moves!

Two-Knight Sicilian – Again the a2-a3 idea! This time in its most effective manifestation. This order avoids the most annoying lines of the Two-Knight Sicilian and keeps the game familiar with the rest of the repertoire. But it doesn’t just ease your memorization: Blacks’ piece arrangement in this variation allows us to “wait for them” with a dangerous pawn storm on the kingside. And covering b4 will be essential if they deviate, imitating the main line of the regular Two Knights!

Sicilian Kan – The flexible 5.Bd3 is the main line, allowing White a fast kingside development. The hidden idea is to delay the b1-knight’s development to transpose to the Maroczy when convenient. But keeping the pawn on c2 is just as promising, with chances of castling long and launching a kingside offensive.

Scheveningen Sicilian – The aggressive Keres Attack (6.g4!) is Miguel’s recommendation. This has been considered the best way to fight the Scheveningen Variation for some decades, and today’s strongest engines confirm that assessment. What’s more: Black will need to be precise and know the accurate defensive variations to get to the middlegame.

Classical Dragon – Miguel presents some improvements over Giri’s analyses on the Yugoslav Attack that will make the game difficult even for the most prepared of your opponents. Many are based on little explored ideas, so it will not be easy to find the best way over the board either.

Accelerated Dragon – Again the Maroczy! You will use our dominant central presence to gain space on both wings and stifle Black’s counterplay hopes. You will slowly improve your weakness-free position and “blackmail” your opponents into a making a concession that gives us an attacking target.

In addition to learning how to punish the various dubious move orders and minor lines that club players often employ.

So, why don’t you start today? Rely on our 30-day guarantee to have a look at the lines, see the videos, and test your brand-new repertoire in your games.

The Sicilian seems impossible to master at times; so when a Grandmaster renowned for his analytical ability and practical strength offers to be your personal opening coach, you better take it!