Sometimes you can quickly sense that an opening book has been written by those who truly understand its nuances, and PLAY THE 2.c3 SICILIAN belongs in that category.  From its useful Summary of Ideas to its coverage of both main and obscure lines, the authors provide both the explanation and analysis necessary to understand the opening from either side of the board.

One of the book’s strengths is its handling of transpositions; there are a variety of methods to arrive at many of the key tabias, and the authors do a nice job of noting these throughout. More importantly, they provide much guidance on the use of certain move orders to avoid specific variations – the sort of expert advice that is enormously helpful to the average player. 

The practical value of the book is highlighted by the discussion of the move order 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 followed by 3.c3. The authors point out ways that white can avoid certain lines, such as after 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3, where black can no longer play lines with ….Nf6 and …b6 where he holds open the possibility of exchanging bishops by playing …Ba6 (as after 1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nf3.e6 6.cxd4 b6). Of course, the authors also point out that the player seeking to use the “theory limiting” route with 2.Nf3 has to have something else cooked up against 2…d6.

These discussions are important and often go overlooked by players – and even some accomplished authors. One of the better black repertoire books, IM Silman’s WINNING WITH THE SICILIAN DEFENSE (click to see Watson’s review of this book), recommends a line against 2.c3 (the popular 2…d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4) that can be frustrated by the 2.Nf3 move order. If an experienced author like Silman can overlook this kind of move order trick, you know that there are plenty of black Sicilian players who could find themselves on their own at an early stage of the game via this sort of nuance.

A primary issue for some readers will be whether the book provides enough new material to justify its purchase. For most players, new developments in many key areas will make this book a worthwhile buy. To date, Gallagher’s 1999 book was the most recent complete effort on this variation (click to see Watson’s review of Gallagher’s book). While Gallagher is not a proponent of 2.c3 (in fact, he is well known as a Sicilian defender and author of a white repertoire, with Nunn, in the open variation after 2.Nf3 and 3.d4), the book did a good job of covering the key lines. In fact, the general impression of the line as covered in the book was that white was running out of ideas – there were several methods for obtaining comfortable equality in the main lines after both 2…Nf6 and 2…d5. This later book, however, suggests that there are, indeed, new ideas to liven up the play for both sides.

In particular, white is exploring lines that delay d2-d4 and various situations where he plays dxc5 before black makes the …cxd4 capture. These investigations have been spurred by the fact that white hasn’t done all that great in lines like 2…Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bc4 Nb6 7.Bb3 d6 8.exd6 Qxd6 9.0-0 Be6 or 2…d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Be2 e6 7.h3 Bh5. As a consequence, white has investigated 4.Nf3 in the former line and 6.dxc5 in the latter. There is no discussion of the delayed d2-d4 version in Gallagher’s book, while Rozentalis and Harley spend 12 pages on it. The coverage of the dxc5 options is also much more extensive in this later book. From my perspective, these updates make this book worth the money for most players, even those who already have Gallagher’s book.

There are other places where this book provides superior coverage to that in previous works. A line that I’ve fooled around with, 2…g6, merits a little over a column of coverage in Gallagher’s book; here the authors spend about six pages on it.  Unfortunately (for those of us who enjoyed the benefit of the unknown), white has now found reasonable ways to keep a normal opening advantage in a couple of ways. There have also been developments in the lines with 2…e5 that are not covered elsewhere. It is worth noting that offbeat lines like 2…e5, 2…g6, and even 2…b6 may be useful theory-fighting weapons for a lot of players.

As is generally the case, Gambit Publications provides first-rate production. The paper, printing, and diagrams are good, the errors minimal, and there are lots of other useful features not always found in other books. These include interesting introductions by both authors, a well-done summary of ideas, an index of variations, and a bibliography.   Gambit’s opening books are mostly done via the tree of variations approach, which I find more useful than the complete game method, particularly, as in this variation, where transpositions are common.

Of course, no book is perfect. While I like the Gambit publications method for noting transpositions (which is described as “Transpositions are displayed by a dash followed by the moves [in italic] of the variation in which the transposition occurs. The moves start with the first one that deviates from the line under discussion. All the moves to bring about the transposition are given. Thus, after 1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 Nc6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Be3 Bg4 the comment ‘7.dxc5 Qxd1+ 8.Kxd1 e5 – 4…Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.dxc5 Qxd1+ 7. Kxd1 e5 8. Be3 Nc6 with a slight advantage to white’ signifies that the reader should locate material on 1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.dxc5 Qxd1+ 7.Kxd1 e5 8.Be3 Nc6 to which play has transposed.”), it can still be difficult to find the exact point in the book where the transposition is covered. While I understand it may be difficult to cite the exact page number (since the pagination is not set until all other changes are made) it should be possible. Even if it is not, at least the pagination of the beginning of the chapter could be provided.

While the authors provide a lot of useful discussion within the book, there is no consistent method for outlining the play at the beginning or for summarizing at the end of each chapter. Many players find these cues useful for guiding their study. This can also be helpful when several major alternatives present themselves within a variation. There isn’t much of that assistance to be found here. 

In assessing the book, however, one will likely come back to its strengths. The authors know the theory and are willing to challenge established evaluations for both sides. They also practice what they preach – by my count of the book’s approximately 1,000 game fragments, Rozentalis or Harley handle the white pieces over 10% of the time (with the lions’ share of the references belonging to Rozentalis). While you would expect to find lots of Rozentalis games in, for example, lines where white plays g2-g3 (one of his specialties from the early 1990s), his game references are scattered throughout the book; his handling of certain isolated queen pawn positions is worth close study.

The book also contains plenty of recent game cites. About 20% of the quoted games are from the period from 2000-2002, another 20% are from the second half of the 1990s, and 30% are from the first half of the 1990s. There are some interesting obscure references, including one example of Alapin playing white (from Vienna 1898), a Bisguier-Fischer game, and another reference (although slightly different from the position on the board) to a famous Alekhine game. This variation of the Sicilian definitely gets around!

In conclusion, Rozentalis and Harley have taken a critical look at a popular variation, and they provide the knowledge and experience necessary to pull it off. While this variation had been given up as stale just a few years ago, the authors find plenty of scope for a fresh look and many areas where previously established evaluations may need rethinking.  In short, this is a timely and valuable book for just about every player.

Click to see Watson’s, Donaldson’s, and Silman’s review of this book.