Are you bored of playing the same old openings time and time again? Fed up with constantly having to keep up with modern chess theory? Or perhaps you simply wish to play something new and exciting, but cannot decide between the numerous choices available? Don't despair - help is on hand!
In Dangerous Weapons: The Sicilian , John Emms and Richard Palliser team up to investigate by far the most popular and widely-played chess opening, but in a revolutionary way. They concentrate on fresh or little-explored variations of the open Sicilian, selecting a wealth of ideas and options for both colours. Many of the carefully chosen weapons are innovative, visually shocking, incredibly tricky, or have been unfairly discarded; they are guaranteed to throw even your most experienced opponent off balance. Whether playing White or Black, a study of this book will leave you assured and fully-armed, and your opponents running for cover!
Dangerous Weapons is a brand-new series of opening books that provide the reader with an abundance of hard-hitting ideas to revitalize his or her opening repertoire. It is a groundbreaking venture that looks at mainline chess openings in a revolutionary way. Each book is full of many original and exciting opening ideas that chess players can use in their games.
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Opening weapons for both White and Black
- The Sicilian in a completely new light
- Ideal for ambitious and adventurous players
John Emms is one of Britain's leading Grandmasters and has represented England in numerous team tournaments and Chess Olympiads. He's also a renowned coach who has trained with many top junior and senior players. An experienced writer, his works include Play the Najdorf: Scheveningen Style and the best-selling Starting Out: The Sicilian .
Richard Palliser is a young English International Master who is quickly carving out a reputation as a skilled and prolific chess writer. His previous works for Everyman Chess include The Bb5 Sicilian and Tango! , which provoked much positive interest from the critics and the chess public alike.
Introduction
The Sicilian (1 e4 c5) really needs no introduction. It's the most famous chess opening in history and the one you are most likely to see in any given game at any level. As a response to 1 e4, it dwarfs all other choices in the popularity stakes, and for good reason: no other opening offers Black as many winning chances. Conversely, many White players enjoy the challenge of facing the Sicilian because it gives them the opportunity to play aggressively in positions of rich imbalance. Potential rewards and risks are high for both sides; in this book they simply become even higher!
Given the considerable amount of material on offer, we decided to concentrate on 'Open' Sicilians. The subjeet of Anti-Sicilians is in itself substantial and could easily fill a separate book.
We won't spoil the fun too much by using the Introduction to run through all the Dangerous Weapons on offer, but we will just pick out a few. In the Preface it was mentioned that a Dangerous Weapon typically falls into one of four categories. Those of you searching for something to fit into '1' could do worse than look at Chapters 1 and 9. The suggestions in the Taimanov Sicilian (Chapters 4 and 5) are both highly ambitious (the second one deceptively so) and so could easily fit into category '2'. Those wishing to try something from category '3' could opt for the Löwenthal (Chapter 3) or the O'Kelly (Chapter 12), while those interested in pure shock value should look at Chapters 8,10 and 13.
We found choosing and analysing the various weapons to be challenging, but it was also really enjoyable. Of course there was plenty of joint analysis, but here's a breakdown of who wrote which sections: Richard Palliser dealt with Chapters 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10,11 and 14; John Emms was responsible for Chapters 2, 4,5, 7,12 and 13.
We would more than welcome any reader feedback with ideas, analysis and suggestions. Please feel free to contact the authors via Everyman Chess (email info@everymanchess.com).
John Emms and Richard Palliser
September 2006
Content:
005 Preface
009 Introduction
011 1 A Swedish Speciality: The Gä-Pä (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Qb6!?)
027 2 Taking a Break from Refuting the Dragon (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 6 Be3 Bg7 7 Be2 0-0 8 Qd2l?)
047 3 Vallejo's Viable Löwenthal (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 e5 5 Nb5 a6!? 6 Nd6+ Bxd6 7 Qxd6 Qf6)
091 4 Danger in the Taimanov (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nc6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Be3 Nf6 7 f4l?)
118 5 Silent but Violent (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nc6 5 Nc3 Qc7 6 Be3 a6 7 Be2 Nf6 8 a3l?)
138 6 The Koblencs-Goletiani Kan (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 a6 5 Nc3 Qc7 6 Bd3 Bd6!?)
152 7 Take my Pawns! (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Nc6 6 Be2 Bb4 7 0-0!?)
173 8 Taking the Sting out of the Open Sicilian (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 d5l?)
190 9 Karklins against the Najdorf (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Qf3l?)
207 10 Baklan and Epishin's Sozin Antidote (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 d6 6 Bc4 e5!?)
226 11 The Prins Variation (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 f3!?)
249 12 The O'Kelly Variation: Not Just a One-Trick Pony (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 a6!?)
277 13 A Cure for Indecision? (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 a6 5 f4!?)
287 14 Surprising the Sveshnikov (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e5 6 Nde2l?) | 
