Starting Out Classical Sicilian

STARTING OUT: CLASSICAL SICILIAN
Authors: Raetsky and Chetverik
Everyman Chess (2007)
176 pages
$24.95

Reviewed by John Donaldson

The sequence 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 (or 2...Nc6 and 5…d6) 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 for many years lacked a name, the next move or moves deciding how the opening would be designated (6.Bg5 the Richter-Rauzer, 6.Bc4 the Sozin, 6.Bc4 Qb6 the Benko, 6.Be2 e5 the Boleslavsky). That is no longer the case. Today we call it the Classical Sicilian and many good players use it regularly, but surprisingly there are few books on the subject, and fewer still that are current.

The most in-depth coverage of 6.Bg5 is THE COMPLETE RICHTER RAUZER by Peter Wells and Viacheslav Osnos, which is a massive book but understandably dated as it was published in 1998. EASY GUIDE TO THE CLASSICAL SICILIAN by Jouni Yrjola is a repertoire book with a personal perspective that has the advantage that it offers lines against all White 6th move tries, but does not look at all of Black's systems. It came out in 2000, so it is also not so fresh.

Both books are useful secondary sources but the most up to date guides to this dynamic opening are Alex Yermolinsky's CHESS EXPLAINED: THE CLASSICAL SICILIAN (published in 2006) and STARTING OUT: CLASSICAL SICILIAN by GM Alexander Raetsky and IM Maxim Chetverik. The latter is not typical of most Everyman titles in the starting out series -- there is less prose and more analysis. All major lines are covered but with some compromises, an inevitability in a book this size which covers such a large territory.

There is no definitive work on the Classical Sicilian. The books by Yermolinsky and Raetsky/Chetverik are the ones to choose between. The former is less expensive -- $19.95 to $24.95 -- but the former is more up to date (the author's list Yermolinsky's book in their bibliography). Page wise the Everyman book is longer, though not so much as the 176 pages to 112 pages difference would suggest as Yermo's publisher, Gambit, uses a larger format. If you want more explanatory prose Yermo's book is probably a better bet, while the Raetsky/Chetverik book is for those who prefer more analysis. Neither book is for club players. Those 2000-2400 would be best served by these books, which are neither pure introductory guides nor detailing opening tomes.

Click to buy (or get more information about):

STARTING OUT: CLASSICAL SICILIAN

SICILIAN SOZIN (by Golubev)

CHESS EXPLAINED: THE CLASSICAL SICILIAN (by Yermolinsky)