DANGEROUS WEAPONS: THE SICILIAN
Authors: John Emms, Richard Palliser
Everyman Chess (2006)
304 pages
$21.95

Reviewed by Jeremy Silman

I have to admit that I find the DANGEROUS WEAPONS series to be fascinating. Not only does it explore ideas for both white and black, not only does it update many well known lines, not only does it infuse them with energy (since everything looked at in this series is "dangerous"), but it also offers up all sorts of fringe variations that one might have wrongly guessed were dubious. DANGEROUS WEAPONS: THE SICILIAN gives us many helpings of this kind of great stuff.

The first chapter attempts to sell you on a new Sicilian system for Black, namely 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Qb6!? (this is called the Ga-Pa). Though …Qb6 is popular in many different Sicilian lines, here things spiral into worlds strange and messy due to White's ability to toss in e4-e5. In fact, the main line runs 6.e5 Bc5! when we instantly realize that this kind of surprise could really do a number on an unsuspecting opponent's head! However,  though it offers surprise value, can the position after 7.Be3 Nd5 8.Nxd5 exd5 be any good? IM Palliser makes a case for it, but ultimately he seems to lose faith when he mentions that both 7.Ndb5!? and 9.Nb5!? (after 7.Be3 Nd5 8.Nxd5 exd5) both test the line to the max. Indeed, after 9…0-0 (9…Bxe3 10.fxe3 Nc6 11.Nd6+ favors White) 10.Bxc5 Qxc5 11.Qd4 I prefer White (11…Qxd4 12.Nxd4 Nc6 13.Nb5 Nxe5 14.Nc7 Rb8 15.0-0-0 Ng4 16.Rd2 was Papp-Fusthy, Hungary 2002). He says, "Thus readers wanting to employ the Ga-Pa as more than just a surprise weapon will have to try and find improvements for Black here, as well as against 7.Ndb5." Not exactly a confidence booster, and to make matters worse, I suspect White is more likely to find improvements than Black!

While the Ga-Pa seemed more bluster than buster from black's point of view, it did serve to alert players on the white side that both 7.Ndb5 and 9.Nb5 are juicy ways of dealing with it.

After this "false start," we get a mix of lines that I simply don't believe are effective and lines that are clearly more interesting than previously thought. In the "more interesting" category are the Lowenthal (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 a6 6.Nd6+ Bxd6 7.Qxd6 Qf6), which Vallejo used (in a blindfold game, so don't get too excited) to brutally wipe out Kramnik. This old and fascinating system was tossed at me by the late Arnold Denker in a tournament game, and even today it's not quite clear how White should proceed.

Another exciting line (from black's side) is the O'Kelly (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6), which is surprisingly hard to deal with.  The first point is that 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5! is great for Black. Since 3.c3 and 3.c4 aren't the end of the world (both offer mutual chances), white's pretty much left with 3.Nc3. In that case Black can give 3…b5 a go, or enter other lines via 3…e6, 3…Nc6, or 3…d6. Note that after 3…e6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 White has been "tricked" into missing out on one of his most dangerous weapons: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3.

There is a lot of great material here, though I got particularly jazzed by the old Nimzovich try 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 d5!? when White shouldn't be able to get more than a small plus if he really knows what he's doing. This one, which is both easy to learn and sound, would make a great blitz system if you find yourself lingering on the ICC for long periods of time.

If you play either side of the Sicilian, you would be wise to pick up a copy of DANGEROUS WEAPONS: THE SICILIAN.

Click to buy (or get more information about) DANGEROUS WEAPONS: THE SICILIAN

Click to buy (or get more information about) DANGEROUS WEAPONS: THE NIMZO-INDIAN

Click to buy (or get more information about) DANGEROUS WEAPONS: THE FRENCH