BASHING THE SICILIAN WITH Bb5 by Murray Chandler is a set of informative and entertaining videotapes about how to play against the Sicilian. These videos present a repertoire for White against the Sicilian with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 versus 2...Nc6 and 2...d6 (after 1.e4). In both cases White plays 3.Bb5, after which the character of the play varies considerably depending upon Black's second move. This is not a complete anti-Sicilian repertoire due to the possibility of 2...e6 (or lesser lines such as 2...g6 and 2...Nf6), but it covers a majority of the games that you will be involved in as White. The variation 2...Nc6 3.Bb5, by the way, has swept across the master world in the last few years, with many games by top grandmasters and even the world's top ten.

In the first video about 2...Nc6 3.Bb5, Chandler begins with the answer 3...Qb6, one seen on all levels. A cute but in fact relevant line he shows is 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Qb6 4.Nc3 Nd4 5.Nxd4 cxd4 6.Nd5

6...Qd8 (6...Qd6 7.d3) 7.Qh5! a6 (7...e6 8.Qe5; 7...Nf6 8.Nxf6+ gxf69.d3 with a large advantage) 8.Qe5 f6 9.Nc7+ Kf7 10.Qd5+ 1-0, intending  10...e6 11.Nxe6. Amazingly, this was the course of a game between two very strong grandmasters: Smirin-Afek, Israel Ch 1992!

3...Qb6 can also get into trouble after 4.Nc3 a6 5.Bxc6 Qxc6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 with too rapid development, e.g., 7...Qc7 8.0-0 a6 9.Bg5 e6 10.Re1. This captures the aggressive flavor of White's repertoire, also shown by 3...Nf6 4.Nc3 Qc7 5.0-0 Nd4 6.Re1 a6 7.Bc4 or here 6.Nxd4 exd4 7.Nd5 as played by Anand versus Leko. Chandler very often shows us more than one way in which to proceed, based upon one's style and comfort level. A remarkable line after 3...Nf6 4.Nc3 is 4...Nd4 5.e5! Nxb5 6.Nxb5 Nd5 7.Ng5! with a bundle of attacking ideas that Chandler shows in some detail.

There are of course many other lines, but the largest section of the video begins with what is often considered the main line 3...g6. Chandler suggests 4.Bxc6 (also popular at the top) 4...dxc6 5.d3.

This move leaves open White's options of castling kingside, often with the simple idea Re1 and e5, or of castling queenside when the usual attacking setup is Nc3/Be3/Qd2. I personally don't think that this yields any objective advantage, but it's certainly a handy and relatively safe practical option. The well-known alternative course is 3...g6 4.0-0 Bg7 5.Re1 (among others), but in this case Chandler sticks with 4.Bxc6.

The second video deals with 2...d6 3.Bb5+. I have to admit that I've never liked this as much as 2...Nc6 3.Bb5, yet Chandler makes a strong case that White can always keep the play interesting, and gain advantages in many lines. One line that arises from either order is 2...d6 3.Bb5+ Nc6 (the same as 2...Nc6 3.Bb5 d6). Chandler suggests the old Vasiukov variation 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4, certainly a dangerous one for Black to meet and often underestimated. Interestingly, this avoids the sideline 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 a6 that arises from the conventional order of the Vasiukov line. The ambitious 3...Nd7 tends to give White good practical chances after 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nc3 cxd4 6.Qxd4. So a critical line is 3...Bd7 4.Bxd7+, when 4...Nxd7 5.0-0 Ngf6 6.Qe2 and 4...Qxd7 5.c4 account for much of this tape's coverage.

This video-book has two major positive features. One is the tightness and clarity of what is a reputable but easy-to-learn repertoire. The other is that Chandler himself is so consistent and organized in delivering the material. I was fairly tired when I put the tapes in yet I still enjoyed watching every minute of both videos because Chandler takes the moves at a careful pace and intersperses the strategic ideas in the clearest possible fashion. Each game reinforces the move orders just considered so that one doesn't get the sequence of opening moves lost in variations he analyses. Then at the end of each section Chandler gives us an overview of what has just been presented, again emphasizing the move order. That kind of repetition is precisely what a good teacher does when introducing an opening variation and ideas to a student.

In conclusion, BASHING THE SICILIAN WITH Bb5 is a relaxing and efficient way to learn a very useful set of variations. Give it a try.

Click to see Silman's review of these tapes.