Sicilian Defense

The Sicilian Defense is a chess move by Black of its Queen's bishop's pawn forward by two spaces ("c5"), typically in response to a White opening of "e4" (King's pawn moved forward by two spaces).

The Sicilian Defense is so successful that its lowers the "e4" opening by white to a rank of #2 behind "d4" in terms of the most successful White openings.

Be careful in using the Sicilian Defense to protect against a quick attack by White. As a bit of a flanking maneuver, the Sicilian Defense is an aggressive long-term strategy which has some short-term vulnerabilities.

Statistical Outcomes[edit]

White Wins - 37.4%
Draw - 29.7%
Black Wins - 33% (remarkably high)

White Response to Sicilian Defense[edit]

The most common White response is 2.Nf3, or (less common) 2.Nc3.^[1]

Another response is the Smith-Morra Gambit:^[2]

1. e4 c5
2.d4 exd4
3.c3 dxc3
4.Nxc3

Dragon Variation[edit]

An effective variation on the Sicilian Defense is the Dragon Variation, which usually culminates in a fianchetto by Black on g7 subsequent to the following:

1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 g6

Famous games playing the Dragon Variation[edit]

These famous games using the Dragon Variation are available online:^[3]

• Y. Gusev vs Averbakh, 1951

• Bronstein vs Tal, 1982

• Adams vs Shirov, 1991

• Kasimdzhanov vs Kramnik, 1999

See also[edit]

• Silician defense explained in detail

References[edit]