CHESS EXPLAINED: THE c3 SICILIAN
Author: Sam Collins
111 pages
$18.95
Gambit Publishing

Reviewed by John Donaldson

The fifth book in Gambit Publishing's CHESS EXPLAINED series is THE c3 SICILIAN by Irish IM Sam Collins. This book follows in its predecessors' steps in that it uses exactly 25 current model games and 111 pages to illustrate the ideas and current theory behind Alapin's answer to the Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.c3).
 
IM Collins has devoted the bulk of the book to Black's most popular replies with 2...Nf6 and 2...d5, each allocated three of the book's seven chapters. Particular attention is paid to variations after 1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nf3 where White avoids playing an early d4 -- GM Tiviakov's favorite. The CHESS EXPLAINED series format, where space is limited, requires the author be intimately familiar with his subject matter and Collins clearly is. Against the sequence 1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nc6 the move 6.dxc5 is definitely White's most challenging reply and Collins' notes to Glavina Rossi-Moiseenko, Sanxenxo 2004 are quite informative.
 
It's not often one learns something new in a favorite opening at move 5 but I did by reading THE c3 SICILIAN. I have always found the sequence 1.e4 c5 2.c3 g6 a good practical weapon against the Alapin Sicilian and after 3.d4 cxd4 4.cxd4 d5 thought 5.e5 and 5.exd5 were White's only real tries. Somewhere in the back of my mind I had seen 5.Nc3, but 5...dxe4 6.Nxe4 had hardly looked threatening. It isn't, but 6.Bc4 requires very precise play by Black as shown in Chapter 7 where alternatives to 2...Nf6 and 2...d5 are dealt with. Black's attempts to steer the game into a French with 2...e6 has always been well respected. Collins suggests 3.d4 d5 4.exd5 rather than transpose into an Advanced French with 4.e5. Theoretically this is satisfactory for Black as after 4...exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bb5 Bd6 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.0-0 Ne7 9.Nbd2 0-0 Black is in a Tarrasch French where the early insertion of c3 is not White's most accurate treatment, but it seems quite practical as 4.e5 leads to an entirely different type of game, few Sicilian players are experts in the French Tarrasch with the IQP and Tiviakov has shown that even with an early c3 in White can still count on a complicated positional fight.
 
I recommend THE c3 SICILIAN to all players rated 1800 on up who are looking for a line against the Sicilian that has a manageable amount of theory but also offers some punch.

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A more detailed classic on the c3 Sicilian (by Rozentalis & Harley) is PLAY THE 2.c3 SICILAIN