The Safest Sicilian

Beschreibung

The Bulgarian GM Delchev (current Elo 2661) proposes a sound yet aggressive Black Sicilian repertoire, based on the Taimanov system: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7. As Black, it is extremely difficult to get a playable position without accepting extreme risks. This book deals with reliable positional systems which will serve you for many years, without having to update your opening knowledge every two weeks. This setup is especially effective against the dreaded English attack. The author is one of the world's leading experts in that field and his recommendations are based mostly on his own games. Without hiding back his secrets, Delchev reveals many new ideas and novelties in his pet line. The authors pay also attention to White's deviations from the Open Sicilian. There are chapters about 3.c3, 3.d3, 3.Nc3, 3.b3, 3.c4 and other rare lines.

The book features a new form of presentation. Every system is examined in a separate part which contains three chapters: "Quick Repertoire"; "Step by Step"; "Complete Games". You start with the "Quick Repertoire". You'll find there all the vital information that you need to start playing the variation. "Step by Step" chapters follow the usual layout of Chess Stars books with main lines that branch to sub-lines. Finally, every part ends with "Complete Games".

Foreword to the Second Edition
The first edition of this book apin 2006 and I was soon to discover that it became too popular! Everyone of my opponents seemed extremely well prepared against the Taimanov, leaving me little room for surprise. Thus I decided to take a rest from the constant race for finding newer and newer novelties. It took me nearly two years to remy batteries and return back to my pet line this year.
It was refreshing to have a new look at my old repertoire. The result of my work is this Second edition of The Safest Sicilian.
White players seem to believe that they can refute the whole sysby the universal English attack 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Qd2. It is true that game 25 Vachier Lagrave - Vitiugov, Plo02.05.2008 posed some probto Black, but, first, Black's play could be improved around move 19, and second, Black has elaboratnew ideas at earlier stages, like 11...Rb8!? or even 9...0-0 which I also examine. Thus, instead of gettheoretical advantage following in others' footsteps, White will have to prepare against three different lines which are nearly unexplored!
The Classical System 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2 has albeen unpleasant to face since White is very solid there and in some positions can play for a win without risk. I attempt to complihis task by offering a wider choice to Black. Apart from patchthe old line 6...Qc7 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Be3 Bb4 9.Na4 Be7 10.Nc6 bc6 11.Nb6 Rb8 12.Nc8 Qc8 13.Bd4 c5, I also examine 13...Qc7!?. It is more flexible and will force your oppoto think on his own.
Part 5: 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Bd3 has also underwent a major reconstruction. I added the system 7...Nf6 8.0-0 Ne5 9.Bd4 Bc5. It is simple, safe and suits the name of the book. It is proposed as an alternative to 7...Nf6 8.0-0 Ne5 which is more demandto both sides.
I have also added new material to the Alapin system 3.c3 and to the 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.f4 variation. The rest of the book has only minor corrections.
Alexander Delchev July 2008

Details

Weitere Informationen
EAN	9789548782678
Gewicht	300 g
Hersteller	Chess Stars
Breite	14,6 cm
Höhe	21,5 cm
Medium	Buch
Erscheinungsjahr	2008
Autor	Alexander Delchev Semko Semkov
Sprache	Englisch
Auflage	2
ISBN-13	9789548782678
Jahr der Erstauflage	2006
Seiten	228
Einband	kartoniert

Inhalt

Rezensionen

en

Reviews of the 1st edition:

This book describes a complete repertoire for Black after the moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6. The main continuation is the Taimanov Sicilian 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6. Its author Alexander Delchev has 2660 ELO and shows here his own repertoire against 1.e4.

Summary:
I like this book a lot. Its main advantage is:
1. A lot of new original analysis of high quality. Every opening for black has some problem lines. Delchev puts special emphasis on solving these problems with new original suggestions and analysis. Sometimes this analysis is a few pages long and shows many days of work. On a few special critical positions Semkov helped Delchev to find the solution for black.
2. Delchev is a very strong player and has a lot of experience playing the variations that he recommends. The book contains a lot of text where plans etc. are described.
3. The format of the book is unusual. On each line there is at first a chapter where the basic theory is presented. This chapter contains a lot of text. Then an Informant-like chapter follows with detailed theory. At last there is a chapter with complete games. Delchev puts quite successfully different emphasis on these chapters depending on which part is most important for the line discussed. Lines where the middlegame is especially important contain especially many complete games where the long term plans of both sides are covered.
The new format also aids remembering the lines a lot. The basic chapter gives an impression of what is to come and what one should pay attention to. After looking at the detailed section and the complete games the lines have been repeated three times, each time from a different angle and with different aims in mind which aids remembering them.
4. Delchev does not just write e.g. 'Black is better' and then quotes a game where Black looses after a few more moves like sometimes happens in chess books, but always writes where each side could improve on its play.
5. Generally the space in the book is very well used. On the pages one sees new analysis, textual descriptions of plans and quotations to games after improvements to them have been suggested. If one is interested these games can be found in databases. Space is not used e.g. for complete games without detailed annotations.
6. The opinion of the author or which lines Delchev recommends is always clear. This is important nowadays were there is sort of an information overflow in opening theory and selecting what is relevant becomes more and more important. Delchev also points out which drawbacks other possible lines have. This, and Delchevs objective analysis, is especially valuable for players who want to play against the Taimanov with White.

All in all this book is very good and recommendable.
In some areas its sets a mark with whom other publishers and authors can measure themself with.

Any Drawbacks?

1. The main weakness of the book lies in printing and publishing aspects. I found 15 occasions where at least 1 move for each side was missing. This was not a serious drawback for me because I usually could see looking at the next diagram or the next moves what was missing. Also I could find the quoted games and see the moves there. For some this might, however, be a problem.
2. Naturally when there is a lot of new analysis not everything is correct. On very rare occasions it seemed to me that the analysis had not been computer checked or that Delchev stopped too early as at least for me everything was not clear yet. An example is on page 90 where Delchev gives a 36 moves long variation. It seems to me that White can better play 22.Nb6. This is however absolutely the exception and not the rule.
3. Delchev sometimes uses little space for variations that according to current theory are O.K. for Black. In these cases one has to use e.g. a database or other material to dig deeply into the position. It is debateable if this is a real weakness or not because always covering these lines in detail might take space from more critical lines.
4. Delchev is presenting his own repertoire which he also played with black in the Capelle la Grande tournament shortly after this book came out. He seems to base the book on his own experience and knowledge. In the Bibliography almost no books on the Taimanov are listed. Given the quality of the book and that the readers would not profit from too much copy paste from other books this is maybe not a drawback. What I, however, would have preferred is to specify more exactly which other works Delchev used e.g. which volumes of Informant where known to him. There is a concrete example in the book were such information would be useful for the reader. For those who already have the book: on page 64 is a game that Delchev played and is also analysed by L. Dominguez in Informant 94. Delchev writes 13.h3!, but Informant 13.h3?! because of 14…Bh4 which is !! according to Informant, but not mentioned by Delchev.

Delchev scored very well in the areas that I consider most important for chess material. Overall quality and amount of the chess aspects like new analysis and suggestions in the book is very high. The amount of missing moves surprised me because on this digital age books generally are perfect in this area.
The book gets 4.5 stars out of 5 possible. Delchev and ChessStars are going in the right direction. The positive aspects alone would have earned a 5, but there is still work to do on the drawbacks.

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The 2660 ELO player Delchev shows his own repertoir which is aimed at:
1. give winning chances with black because he has to get 7.5 out of 9 to win opens and cant draw too many games
2. be safe, white does not have lines like in Najdorf were black has to survive sacrifices on b5 or e6 and might end up having to deal with a novelty in a complicated position on move 31 which was found by a computer. A well prepared player can force a draw with Bg5.
This view is quite interesting. One goal of a professional in any field is to be able to deliver acceptable performance every day even after a long flight, ilness or the thousand other things that can happen in life and have a negative effect on ones performance. Allowing razor sharp variations is from this point of view a bit unprofessional because it demands that the player is in a good shape and sometimes that is simply not the case.

Suggests active play for a win with black, e.g. in the 3.Nb5 d6 4.c4 variation black will not wait passively but start active counterplay based on concrete variations.
The analysis seem sound and interesting for a practical game because they often involve black taking the initiative.
Delchev is objective in his analyses and jugements and points out why the reccomended continuation is chosen and shows the disadvantage of other possible continuations. The book also contains a lot of original analysis. The book concentrates on the most popular continuations. Compared to some previous work on the Taimanov its strength is new original analysis and clear recommendations of which variations are good and which are not so good and sometimes why the other variations are not so good. The book focuses on the main theoretically critical continuations and the most relevant ones and mentiones somewhat less more rare continuations for white than many other works on the Taimanov.

It is positive that a strong player like Delchev is willing to publish his analysis on an opening that is part of his own repertoire.
Strong players tend not to publish so much on opening theory and when they do it is often quite vague and without much specific variations or new analysis. This is not the case in this book.

Chess Stars is ambitious and original. They test new ways and methods of presenting chess material.The aim of the book is:

1. To contain detailed information about every known option against the proposed repertoire
2. To have fewer variations and more explanation
3. To present the material clearly, move by move
4. To be up-to-date, possibly even anticipating theoretical developments by years
5. To convey the authors personal opinion on the subject
6. To be objective

I must say that the book manages to fulfill these aims quite well. I especially like nr. 1, 4, 5 and 6 - Delchev shows a lot of high level suggestions and new analysis and shows his opinion on theoretical variations. It is good to repeat everything three times, first in the quick repertoire chapter, then in the step by step theoretical chapter and finally in the
complete game section. Eases memorizing the variations very much.
Nr. 2 and 3 is also very good because it aids understanding and memorizing the material and makes the whole process of learning the opening easier than if one is only feed with one variation after another.

Test first basic introdution with a lot of text that describes the main ideas behind the variation reccomended, then more detailed presentation with informator like variants and at last complete games that show the resulting middlegame and the caracter of play that results from the chosen opening. I find this good.

It is very good to know approximately what it is all about after reading the basic chapter before dealing with the jungle of variations. Even more importantly I find this help memorizing the variations because one knows approximately what comes before entering the jungle. This is an extremely important asset because for modern tournament players a major problem is often to remember all the different variations that after an unexpected opening position has appeared on the board in a tournament game.
Kasparov taked about this problem in an interview shortly before he retired where he said that his computer was full of interesting variations, the problem was only that he was having big difficulties remembering them.

Slight drawback, that rather many previous books on the Taimanov are not mentioned in the Bibliography like Taimanov von Burgess, Sicilian Taimanov from Plaskett and even the Chessbase Paulsen CD which also dealt with the Taimanov. Delchev is, however, presenting his own opening and interpreation of it and compensates well for lacking this material.

Summary:

the book earns 4,5 from 5 possible stars. It earns the stars because:
1. Good presentation - I especially like that there is rather much text and explainations e.g. why a move is played or the idea behind a move and also tips what should be remembered - sucess to present basics first and only then the detailed theory and end up with annotated complete games to aid middlegame understanding and are very inportant for understanding of the long term goals and plans that each side strives to achieve, especially with a static pawn structure.
After reading the book one understands the typical positions quite well and is also equiped with state of the art opening theory knowledge.
Delchev is objective and explains each variation quite well and also says what he considers most uncomfortable for black and why.
This makes the book recomendable for players that want to play the Taimanov with black or white.
2. High quality of all aspects e.g. the theoretical part. Difficult to find errors or inexact handling of variations

It seems that although not all previous work all the Taimanov is mentioned in the Bibliography that this does not harm the book much.
Sometimes it can almost be considered an asset because it means that the book has more original analysis and not just copies lines from pervious books.
On rare occastions a drawback that which numbers of e.g. Informant were used is not stated, only that the book ends in January.
In Informant 94 game 131 there is after 13.h3(! Delchev but ?! Informant 94) the move 14...Bh4!! is analysed in the Informant, but not page 64 by Delchev even though the game in the Informant is Kolev-Delchev with analysis from L. Dominguez.
On page 90 there is a very long variation 36 move from Delchev, however, it seems to me that white can play better with 22.Nb6 attacking the rook on a8.
The analyses are not computer generated, but done by hand and usually checked with computer.

Focuses on the currently theoretically most relevant variations. Sometimes variations which are according to currenct theoretical status supposed to be O.K. for Black could be described more thouroughly.
Good that there is reasoning why Delchev chooses the chosen cointinuation and there is a discussion of the drawbacks of the other possibilites.

Overall quality good.
Like that he uses space very well. Games are quoted and space used in order to see were games could be improved. Quite opposite to copy paste from e.g. Chessbase Magazin with very little own contribution like in some other books.
Good that it is always clear what Delchev reccomends and most often he also shows why or the drawback of other possible continuations.
The reader is not shown one variation after another and it left for him to guess what the author reccomends.
Full games are only showed with detailed analysis.
Also like that Delchev shows variations to prove his estimation of positions and shows were e.g. Black could play better instead of just saying 'Black has better position' and let the reader figure out himself where he went off the road in a game that white won.

A lot of interesting new analysis for Black and White.
Sometimes lines that have been seldom played are recommended and supported with quite detailed analysis.
Often books stop at exactly the same place as e.g. analysis in Chessbase Magazin stopped. Not this book. Delchev analyses some moves deeper and gives a clearer verdict of the position and what each side should play and why.
Good that there is certain flexibility that is that variations where the decisive clashes occur deeply in the middle game are covered specially well in the complete game section and lines were the first 12-15 moves are critical specially well in the move to move section.
A problem nowadays that one get overflooded with information.
The book provides valuable information first and formely by presenting original analysis of critical lines which are generally of high quality and second to point out which lines black should play and which avoid and in many cases points out the reason why other lines should be avoided.
One has to look into details to find drawbacks, which are few and not serious, but more "Schönheitsfehler".
The reader gets a lot of original analysis and recommendations. Good that the analysis is not all computer generated and sometimes Delchev even says that the computer evaluates a position positively for one side, but that he disagrees and shows variations supporting his opinion.
Occasionally, however, the variations could be a bit more exact and cover more possibilities for White; for example on page 25 variation A1 20.Nxc4 instead of 20.Ncb5 seems to be a move that should be considered. Another example is page 41 where after 17.g4 e4 white can play 18.Bxe4 and the position seems not quite clear. In the detailed theory section 17.g4 is not mentioned. Also on page 128 after the suggested improvement 15...Nb4 16.Qb3 a5 white can play d5 and gain advantage.
Also typos happen e.g. on page 44 12...Be6 13.Qxd6 Dxd6 14.Nxd6 and now ...b5 is the move not 14...Be6. Another example on page 45 13...Rc8 and now 14.Ne3 is the move not 14.Bd3. One more is on page 55 where after 14...Bb7 the move 15.Ne4 is missing. On page 70 17...b4 18.Na4 is a missing pair of moves. Also page 86 it probably should be 12...b4?! 13.e5!. Also in a game quoted on page 91 17.Bd3 was played not 17.Bxa6. Also page 98 24...Qc4 25.Rxa6 Nd5 is missing. On page 105 14...b5 is missing. Also page 109 19.Rc1 Bd7 is missing also on same page in variation B1 10...Ba7 is played not 10...Be7. On page 114 7...a6 8.00 Ne5 is missing. On page 181 13...Bxf3 14.Qb2 Bc6 is missing.
On page 125 there should be 12...000 not 13...000. On page 218 there should be 24...Bb5 not 24...b5.
This is, however, very rare and not so serious, at least it does not disturb me much.
Rather strange though because typos are quite rare in chessbooks nowadays in the computer age.
These are exceptions and not the rule. Also are only "Schönheitsfehler" and do not have a big impact on the overall quality of the material presented.
The high quality of the material earns the book 5 out of 5 possible stars.

IM Hedinn Steingrimsson

de

Das vorliegende Buch enthält ein komplettes Schwarzrepertoire anhand der Zugfolge 1.e4 c5 2.Sf3 e6 3.d4 c:d4 4.S:d4 Sc6 5.Sc3 Dc7. Auf 228 dicht bedruckten Seiten legen die beiden Bulgaren ihre Analysen zu diesem System vor, garniert mit Modellpartien, allgemeinen Hinweisen und Erläuterungen (diese halten sich aber in Grenzen). Wie der „Safest Sicilian” in der aktuellen GM-Praxis funktioniert, kann man am nachfolgenden Beispiel gut erkennen:
Anand,V (2803) - Ivanchuk,V (2740) [B85]
XXI Magistral Rapid Final Leon ESP 2008
1.e4 c5 2.Sf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Sxd4 Sc6 5.Sc3 Dc7 6.Le2 a6 7.0-0 Sf6 8.Le3 Le7 9.f4 d6 10.De1 0-0 11.Dg3 Sxd4 12.Lxd4 b5 13.a3 Lb7 14.Kh1 Tad8 15.Tae1 Td7 16.Ld3 Te8 17.f5 e5 18.Le3 Kh8 19.Lg5 Sh5 20.Dh4 Lxg5 21.Dxg5 Sf6 22.Tf3 Dc5 23.Tg3 Tg8 24.Th3 b4 25.axb4 Dxb4 26.Tb1 Tc7 27.Th6 d5 28.exd5 Db6 29.Sa4 Dd6 30.Th4 Lxd5 31.Sc3 Tb8 32.Dc1 e4 33.Lxe4 Sxe4 34.Sxe4 Dc6 35.De3 Dxc2 36.Tg1 f6 37.Dd4 Td7 38.Sxf6 gxf6 39.Dxf6+ Tg7 40.Tg4 Dxb2 0-1
Das vorgeschlagene Repertoire orientiert sich stark an Delchevs eigenem Repertoire und so finden sich auch dementsprechend viele seiner Partien in den Anmerkungen. Bei meinen Untersuchungen habe ich festgestellt, dass beide Autoren sehr genau und gewissenhaft gearbeitet haben, sämtliche Varianten sind auf aktuellstem Niveau und auch die letzten Entwicklungen in diesem System sind berücksichtigt worden. Somit erhält man ein theoretisch aktuelles Eröffnungsbuch über das Taimanov-System, verpackt als Repertoirebuch. Ob ein normaler Vereinsspieler großen Nutzen daraus ziehen kann, bezweifle ich aber, zu komplex und zu variantenlastig erscheint mir das Buch, dass bei Spielern jenseits von 2000 Ratingpunkten sicher großen Anklang finden wird. Der Aufbau des Buches mit Einführung, Musterzugfolgen und anschließendem Variantenteil ist zwar positiv zu bewerten, so manchen könnten die schier endlosen Analysen aber dann doch ermüden. So bleibt ein zwar hervorragendes Sizilianischbuch mit dem man auf dem neuesten Stand ist und mit dem sich sicher sehr gut arbeiten lässt am eigenen Repertoire, der aber als gemütlich lesbarer Ratgeber nicht funktioniert. Deswegen würde ich dieses Buch ab ca. 2000 Ratingpunkten empfehlen, Arbeitswille und Motivation vorausgesetzt. Wegen der spärlichen Textpassagen reichen unterdurchschnittliche Englischkenntnisse völlig aus.
Mit freundlicher Genehmigung
Martin Rieger, www.freechess.info
August 2008

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