Everyman Chess has launched a new repertoire series geared toward giving club and tournament players a chance to build a serious opening repertoire with as little memorization as possible, and this, one of the first offerings, does a reasonable job of delivering on this promise. While the author (or authors, but more on that in a moment) decides to tackle the theory-bound Sicilian defense, he wisely stays away from the main lines and suggests that black do battle in the relatively less charted waters of the variation after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 (or 2…e6) 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 (or 5…Nc6) 6.Ndb5 Bb4.

The author, according to the book’s cover, is IM Alexander Raetsky, a frequent contributor to the Russian magazine 64 and the Dutch publication NEW IN CHESS. Interestingly, in the introduction Raetsky indicates that the book is a joint effort with his close friend Maxim Cherverik; Raetsky notes that they have previously written on the Petroff Defense, Albin Counter-Gambit, and the Catalan Opening. Given this explanation, it is odd that Cherverik is not listed as an author on the book’s cover. I’ve run across books by a titled player and a more obscure author where it became clear that the real work of the book had been done by the less impressive of the two, but I am not suggesting that this is the case here. In general, the theory presented is mainstream, and I detected no obvious analytic errors.

I think the author(s) made a good choice in exploring a less discussed variation of the Sicilian. There are plenty of Sicilian repertoire books, but they tend to gravitate toward more known variations such as the Accelerated Dragon, Modern Dragon, or Scheveningen. While these are all dependable choices, they have a lot of theory and most white players willing to venture into the main lines have a system prepared against these. On the other hand, the line the author recommends is not particularly popular at any level, and this tends to be the sort of variation that white players overlook in their preparations.

From my own experience, I know that my vague recollections of the shortcomings of this variation are more than adequately met by the book’s analysis. It is also encouraging to know that some very strong players – including Kramnik, Zsuzsa Polgar, Chandler, Hector, and Rogers – have been willing to play the variation against strong opponents.

Still, a lot of Sicilian players will find this variation not to their liking. In fact, it may be players who favor more strategic defenses who would feel this variation suits their style. Of course, it would be wrong to classify the Sicilian as nothing but a tactical melee, and there are variations where some pieces come off the board relatively quickly; this can be one of those types of variations.

The authors do a nice job of preparing the player with the key ideas they’ll need in conducting the variation; for example, one of the key structures of the main line involves black having an isolated d-pawn, which is often advanced to d4. The authors explain which piece configurations are optimal for both sides; they note, for example, that heavy piece endings with queens and rooks are tenable for black, as he can generate as much pressure on the c2 pawn as white can against the d4 pawn. They also find that black knight versus white dark squared bishop is ok for black, but a pure rook ending, particularly if the white king can get to d3, is difficult for the second player. This is the sort of information that most players need to begin to process the ideas of the variation.

While the explanation part of the book is quite good, this would not come across as a theoretical tome that will have an answer for every white idea. From looking just at the chapter on this variation in Nunn and Gallagher’s BEATING THE SICILIAN 3, I think a white player could prepare some lines leading to a reasonable edge that are not entirely covered by Raetsky in this book.

As noted above, the main line here tends to be more strategic, but there are some wild, tactical variations in which black has to have some theoretical preparation. In general, though, black can probably play this line with less theoretical preparation than many variations in the Sicilian defense.

The authors acknowledge that anybody playing the Sicilian must be prepared for a variety of “anti-Sicilian” lines, and more than half the book is devoted to these. Interestingly, this book deviates from some of the lines that have become the norm for black Sicilian repertoire books. In particular, the authors eschew fianchetto solutions against the Rossolimo (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5, e6 rather that 3…g6) and the Closed Sicilian (2.Nc3 e6 3.g3 d5 rather than 2…Nc6 3.g3 g6). These are solid, playable lines, and their study may benefit the black player, because most of their opponents prep more for the lines with a king bishop fianchetto.

The other choices in the repertoire fall in line with general recommendations – 1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6; 2.f4 d5; and accepting the Morra gambit via 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 Nc6 and playing the so-called Schipkov variation after 5.Nf3 e6 6.Bc4 Qc7 7.0-0 Nf6 with the idea of …Ng4. The basic trick of 8.Qe2 Ng4 9.h3?? Nd4! has ruined the day of more than one Morra gambiter. All of these variations are reasonable, and the authors provide sufficient theory and explanation to allow the average player to get a grip on them.

I was surprised that the author makes no mention of a few infrequent but still dangerous choices for white in the anti-Sicilian lines. There is no discussion of lines with b3 (such as 1.e4 c5 2.b3 or 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.b3). There is also no mention of the Wing Gambit, either after 2.b4 or 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.b4. Among other tries, 2.d3, 2.c4, and 2.Bc4 are all at least possible and not mentioned. Of these, the biggest omissions, in my opinion, are the lines with b3 and the Wing Gambit; both of these have their share of poison for the unwary.

There are things both to like and dislike in the book’s layout. Each chapter has some useful overview, and there is a summary of key points at the end as well. The author has a nice, conversational style; there are plenty of diagrams and decent print with few detectable typos. As with most Everyman Chess books, the lines are presented via complete games. I do not like this method as well as the analytic tree; there tends to be a lot of repeated moves from game to game, it’s easy to miss lines, and it can be hard to find or detect transpositions. These might not be quite so troublesome if the books had a detailed index of moves, but they do not. The only index is of complete games, which is unfortunate.

In conclusion, this is a decent attempt at a Sicilian repertoire that is slightly off the beaten path. The theory presented is reasonable, and the lines sound. However, some players might find the isolated d-pawn main line not to their liking. There are also a few variations that black players might come across not represented, and the book’s format might not be as user friendly as other methods. While this is a reasonable effort, I believe there are better Sicilian repertoire books available.

Click to see Watson’s review of this book.

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