STARTING OUT: CLOSED SICILIAN
Author: Richard Palliser
Everyman Chess (2006)
192 pages
$22.95

Reviewed by Jeremy Silman

I’m extremely late in reviewing STARTING OUT: CLOSED SICILIAN, but in this case, it’s better late than never. So many amateurs play (or have played) this anti-Sicilian line, yet few realize its full potential. In general, they answer 1.e4 c5 with 2.Nc3 (g3 follows) in order to get out of book and to achieve kingside attacking potential.

Smysov was the first super-grandmaster to use the Closed Sicilian to great effect, but the line caught fire when Spassky employed this opening in his 1968 Candidates match against Geller, where a couple crushing white victories made the whole system seem highly desirable. These games were fought in the main lines (1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6), so it was rather interesting to see Fischer (as White) use the Closed against Spassky in their 1992 rematch. In that game Spassky avoided …g6 and went for the highly thought of 2…e6 when 3.Nge2 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.exd5 exd5 6.Bg2! d4! began a serious theoretical battle (Fischer was on the White side of this vs. Bertok in Zagreb 1970. That game continued: 6…Nf6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bg4 9.Qd3 Be7 10.h3 Be6 11.Nxe6! fxe6 12.0-0 0-0 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bd2 with advantage) which led to a Fischer victory after 7.Nd5 Nf6 8.Nef4 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 Bd6 10.0-0 0-0 11.d3 Be6 12.Nf4 Bf5 13.h3 Rb8 14.Bd2 Re8 15.Re1 Rxe1+ 16.Qxe1 Qd7 17.g4! Re8 18.Qd1 Bxf4 19.Bxf4 Be6 20.Qf3 with a small edge that Fischer brilliantly increased.

Palliser gives all of this and much more, and lets us know the pros and cons of this exact move order for both sides. Indeed, this is Pallier’s strength: he has the ability to take complicated move orders and ideas and bake them down to something that’s easy to absorb. On top of that, he doesn’t lie about a line’s assessment, and makes it clear that Black can indeed get perfectly reasonable play against the Closed Sicilian, but it takes both skill and knowledge for him to do so, while allowing White to vie for a win in positions that he’s more familiar with.

Furthermore, Palliser is a serious theoretician and gives us a tremendous amount of important information about every possible line. One of the most interesting variations is 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 6.f4 e6 7.Nf3 Nge7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Be3 Nd4 10.e5, which leads to all sorts of fascinating complications. If Black isn’t ready for this, he’s toast, and Palliser explores all its theory in detail.

This kind of mix between serious theory and exceptional explanation makes STARTING OUT: CLOSED SICILIAN perfect for Closed Sicilian aspirants between 1200 to 2400. And, though it was written in 2006, it’s still (by far!) the best book on this opening.

Highly Recommended, and a must buy if you play either side of the Closed Sicilian.

Click to buy (or get more information about) STARTING OUT: CLOSED SICILIAN