Fighting the Anti-Sicilians
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Review
' Simply masterful '
Grandmaster Glenn Flear reviewing Palliser ' s earlier work Tango! for New In Chess
' Palliser is an admirably reliable guide. '
British Chess Magazine ' s review of Palliser ' s Bb5 Sicilian
Grandmaster Glenn Flear reviewing Palliser ' s earlier work Tango! for New In Chess
' Palliser is an admirably reliable guide. '
British Chess Magazine ' s review of Palliser ' s Bb5 Sicilian
Product Description
The Sicilian Defence is by far Black's most popular answer to 1 e4 at all levels of chess. The reason is easy to understand: from the very first move, Black unbalances the position and can play for a win without needing to take unjustified risks. This is particularly the case with the Open Sicilians, where Black can take comfort in the fact that his superior pawn structure ensures control of the centre and excellent long term chances. Faced this with type of problem, along with the fact that many Open Sicilians carry with them a massive build-up of opening theory, it's unsurprising that many. White players prefer to avoid the Open Sicilian altogether, preferring one of the many 'Anti-Sicilians' lines on offer.These numerous options for White include the primitive but dangerous Grand Prix Attack, one or two wild gambits, but most of all some tedious and niggling variations such as 2 c3, the Closed and Bb5 systems, all of which are designed to stamp out any fun Black was envisaging when playing 1...c5. These annoying lines have become the scourge of Sicilian players, but in this book Richard Palliser, a lifelong Sicilian devotee, decides it's time for Black players to finally fight back! Drawing upon his vast experience and understanding of Anti-Sicilians, Palliser devises a compact and practical repertoire for Sicilian players against each of White's many alternatives. Using examples from modern play, he examines tactical and positional ideas for both White and Black, and pays special attention to tricky move orders which are very much in the armoury of contemporary Grandmasters.It is an essential reading for Sicilian players, where all of White's main tries are covered. It is ideal for club and tournament players.
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5 reviews
32 of 32 people found the following review helpful
At Last, A Practical, Balanced Book
19 Aug 2007
Format:Paperback
In my overly-large collection of chess books, I have a number of titles about "Beating the Sicilian" and a number more about "Beating the Anti-Sicilians." These books tend to promise, in hyperbolic fashion, a near-certain strategy for whichever side they are support. Yet even a lowly class player such as I has trouble understanding how both sides can have a legitimate no-fail strategy for victory!
That's why I was happy to acquire and read through Richard Palliser's new book. Though it is written from the standpoint of the Black player and attempts to provide a solid repertoire for that side, it is, gladly and surprisingly, very well balanced, and represents fairly the ideas and aspirations of both White and Black, presenting chess as a struggle of ideas in which the outcome is anything but certain.
Black reactions to the 2.c3 system (once called the Alapin) are covered in a great deal of detail. The same is true for the 2.Nc3 "closed" Sicilian. There are plenty of variant moves considered along with games and illustrations. There is a bit less coverage of the Grand Prix Attack; both the 2.Nc3 3.f4 and 2.f4 variants are treated, with some excellent ideas in the latter for playing the Black side of the Tal Gambit (the author analyzes the less frequently played but very interesting Nbd7 reply to Bb5+; Bd7 is the usual reply). There is some coverage (not as much as I could have wished, but then there are other specialty books on Sicilian gambits available) of the Morra Gambit and the Wing Gambit, as well as a few pages devoted to the really offbeat stuff.
This is clearly the best book of its type in terms of coverage, balance, readability, and utility. IM Palliser has done a really fine job, and the book is an easy one to recommend to Sicilian fans.
That's why I was happy to acquire and read through Richard Palliser's new book. Though it is written from the standpoint of the Black player and attempts to provide a solid repertoire for that side, it is, gladly and surprisingly, very well balanced, and represents fairly the ideas and aspirations of both White and Black, presenting chess as a struggle of ideas in which the outcome is anything but certain.
Black reactions to the 2.c3 system (once called the Alapin) are covered in a great deal of detail. The same is true for the 2.Nc3 "closed" Sicilian. There are plenty of variant moves considered along with games and illustrations. There is a bit less coverage of the Grand Prix Attack; both the 2.Nc3 3.f4 and 2.f4 variants are treated, with some excellent ideas in the latter for playing the Black side of the Tal Gambit (the author analyzes the less frequently played but very interesting Nbd7 reply to Bb5+; Bd7 is the usual reply). There is some coverage (not as much as I could have wished, but then there are other specialty books on Sicilian gambits available) of the Morra Gambit and the Wing Gambit, as well as a few pages devoted to the really offbeat stuff.
This is clearly the best book of its type in terms of coverage, balance, readability, and utility. IM Palliser has done a really fine job, and the book is an easy one to recommend to Sicilian fans.
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Correction
24 Nov 2007
Format:Paperback
This isn't a review actually, but a correction to the Amazon listing of this book. The book doesn't cover Bb5 systems! Palliser has written that excluding them was a tough decision but was done for space considerations (if memory serves me correctly that is, check out chesspublishing.com's forum section to read exactly what he said). One can get a very good book by Palliser on the Bb5 systems here at Amazon. That said, this is another excellent Palliser book. [...]
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Thorough and Trustworthy...Would have liked a bit more prose.
19 Feb 2008
Format:Paperback
IM Richard Palliser is an excellent author, arguably the best at Everyman Chess. His works are always thorough and his recommendations always solid.
The author includes some explanatory material and gives justification for the lines that he recommends, but this book is more on the "database dump" side of the opening book spectrum. I must admit to being a little disappointed by this, having loved his Play 1.d4!, which I think is a repertoire masterpiece--if not for the lines themselves then for the mix of breadth, depth, and prose.
It could be said, however, that the subject is the Sicilian Defense, and any serious book with this topic must be very concrete. While that is true, I would have liked more practical (middlegame!) advice in the vein of Play 1.d4 or especially in the vein of The Sharpest Sicilian. It is this practical middlegame advice that, to me, places the latter work on a very short list of the greatest opening works ever.
Still, I think this is the best book on the Anti-Sicilians currently available. Recommended. Note well that this book basically deals with White second moves and, as Mr. Snow pointed out in his review, does not cover 3.Bb5(+) (the Moscow/Rossolimo Variations), for example, or Yudasin's favorite 3.Bc4. He does cover Zvjagintsev's 2.Na3!?, though with such a move there is much more scope to just "play chess" than in most other lines.
The author includes some explanatory material and gives justification for the lines that he recommends, but this book is more on the "database dump" side of the opening book spectrum. I must admit to being a little disappointed by this, having loved his Play 1.d4!, which I think is a repertoire masterpiece--if not for the lines themselves then for the mix of breadth, depth, and prose.
It could be said, however, that the subject is the Sicilian Defense, and any serious book with this topic must be very concrete. While that is true, I would have liked more practical (middlegame!) advice in the vein of Play 1.d4 or especially in the vein of The Sharpest Sicilian. It is this practical middlegame advice that, to me, places the latter work on a very short list of the greatest opening works ever.
Still, I think this is the best book on the Anti-Sicilians currently available. Recommended. Note well that this book basically deals with White second moves and, as Mr. Snow pointed out in his review, does not cover 3.Bb5(+) (the Moscow/Rossolimo Variations), for example, or Yudasin's favorite 3.Bc4. He does cover Zvjagintsev's 2.Na3!?, though with such a move there is much more scope to just "play chess" than in most other lines.
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