Chess Openings: Sicilian Defense

The Sicilian Defense is widely considered the best defense against white's e4 opening move. Here we discuss various lines in the sicilian defense and key concepts to consider when you play the sicilian.
Make sure to check out more great chess content at: www.thechesswebsite.com

[@artistryartistry7239]

Just a suggestion, if you're going to show us a black opening, I'd recommend flipping the board accordingly.

[@lester4005]

thats racist man

[@thesavantart8480]

+Lester Yam lol

[@9308323]

I would like to disagree, but it's hard considering that you're more likely to win with white pieces instead of black ones.

[@anthonywang1873]

thats really only cuz white goes first so if ur gonna flip it and give black the advantage its still racist

[@nicholasvanlierde2546]

black should only get pawns

[@chesswebsite]

I try to go over the thinking behind the moves and not just show the moves. If you are only looking for the moves for particular openings this probably isn't the best place to find them cause as you can tell I go slowly and try to teach each opening thoroughly. Thanks for watching.

[@ColeTeke]

This is better than what most do, it’s like being told you have to take meds if you’re sick but you don’t know how they work or the process they take through out the body

[@wassupjg]

3:40 unicorn spotted

[@filipevasconcelos1980]

hahhaha... nice

[@sandeshkharel2810]

wow.... i would never have spotted...😂😂😋

[@alannguyen1275]

Lol

[@koroshiya5758]

lmfao, I burst there

[@rudimetzger-wang4169]

wow nice7

[@chesswebsite]

I think this is an old video, uploaded back in early March. since then I've gotten a better mic and software. Be sure and check out the newer videos.

[@chasington89]

There's a lot of thrusting in the Sicilian Defense. Maturity +1

[@hernandezwendellc.7145]

lmao

[@xxx_jim_the_reaper_xxx]

@@hernandezwendellc.7145 This Defense is hard for me to utilize and master though. I can't prevent the Knight pair and Bishop from forking my King & Rook. Its just frustrating!

[@ThakurSiddhesh]

@@xxx_jim_the_reaper_xxx use traxler counter against fried liver attack

[@xxx_jim_the_reaper_xxx]

@@ThakurSiddhesh Fried Liver Attack may be the Most Powerful Gambit but it can fall off later just like the Scholar's Mate. Legal's Mate and Marshall Trap are my favorites.

[@callmeqt1269]

If you aren't thrusting constantly when playing chess, you're doing something wrong. Thrust is love, thrust is life.

[@chesswebsite]

@rustyrobot20 keep in mind this video was made 2 years ago. The mic has been upgraded a long time ago.

[@davidmiguelgoncalves]

I like the way you summarized different variations as you went. You explain the tactical significance of each of them quickly and clearly. It was the perfect 6 minute treatment of the basic concepts and possibilites in these first few moves -- exactly what I was looking for to get started with. Thanks.

[@benjamincid8007]

Thank you Kevin for your videos. Every time I'm in haze and lose my ability to think properly, I watch some of your videos and get back in track ! Keep the good work !

[@TheSubwayBeast]

Who’s here after watching Queen Gambit

[@kirstenschmeckpeper8552]

I was inspired

[@theguptacircle8550]

meh

[@molokaiparadise5359]

me too

[@theowl2308]

@@molokaiparadise5359 man i ve just finished it too

[@whoathatsalotofdamage3718]

So good

[@Matt-yu8xc]

I love this video series...Keven always says, "The key caaaancepts..."

[@chesswebsite]

@TheKoolera I would be very curious to know what opening your "master" thinks this is if not the sicilian.

[@ChesscomGames]

@TheImmortalFlip the song has got be "Ready or Not" by the Fugees

[@alix9751]

It is not tho ;-; I wonder what it is after all this time.

[@TheDevLee]

"it's a very attacking defense" only in chess, only in chess.

[@yeetwchybaban]

Hmm

[@alexhughes8895]

Offence is the best defence?

[@Xplora213]

LOL shortest book in the world, “Italian War Heroes” LOL

[@chesswebsite]

You can really go two routes although both routes can be taken, just in a different order. My first move would be 2....Nc6, adding pressure to the d4 square and developing my knight. Next I would move 3....e6, getting ready for 4....d5 which will push the bishop back.

[@chesswebsite]

@joshjimjoe if you check, this video was put up on March 14th, the very first day I put videos on youtube. That was a long time ago and since then I have upgraded my software and mic. The volume is much improved. Hopefully you were able to watch more than the very first video put on youtube.

[@topperandgray9895]

Thank you for making this video. I was recentely reinstated as first board on my team and needed a more elaborate opening, and first thought of the sicilian because it had caused me to lose numerous times. This is really a great video. You have earned a subscribtion.

[@thomassaurus]

Never play against the Sicilian Defense when death is on the line.

[@Carrotomatato]

Iocane powder, i'd bet my life on it.

[@GrabnarMyers]

Best comment. Hahahahahahahah--. dead.

[@thesanerepublicofcommonsen5057]

You deserve so many more likes for this comment

[@morpher728]

I don't get it

[@Jacob-sb3su]

@@morpher728 watch Princess Bride you uncultured swine

[@groveavenue]

Since this is about a Black defence is it in order for the board to be turned around so Black is at the Bottom? Grovel.

[@SuperYtc1]

+Ali Ismail Come on now, any serious player would have the chess board all in their mind anyway. Tut tut.

[@zackdisharoon6239]

+Ali Ismail better to see how exactly it works against an opponent from that opponents point of view

[@wm8032]

just turn your computer upside down

[@alexspike2901]

Agreed. For many of us beginners, this makes it hard to visualize. Can you flip it? Or have you already, on another video? Thanks for the great videos!

[@davidhill8163]

i love the way you explain ahead why moves are initially made

[@chesswebsite]

I think if i'm reading your question right, he starts out e4, you reply with sicilian defense c5 and he continues with e5? I would just develop Nc6 and attacking the pawn on e5. White can develop to Nf3 but right away he's going to have a tough time defending his e pawn as his d pawn can't move to d4 without being catpured.

[@siLence-84]

READY OR NOT, HERE I COME, YOU CAN'T HIDE

[@SamPiWi]

3:40 : Unicorn.

[@brain5531]

Sam Asm Focus on the lesson, not the knight

[@mank004]

@@brain5531 bookworm spotted

[@TrickShotKoopa]

Am I dumb? That just looks like a normal knight unless that's the joke

[@hazaltoft]

Thank you to the chess website, very helpful as always :)

[@chesswebsite]

song is "ready or not" by the fugees

[@lobbbster5]

"Sinner control"

[@danielmunozgolf]

The lord controls my sins!🤣

[@lucianoherrera9492]

3:55 did that knight just blinked?

[@skitzy4676]

+Luciano Herrera That was the mouse dude

[@discordant8543]

Luciano Herra :l

[@xyon9090]

If it wasn't for your comment, I'd actually think that Knight blinked.

[@RohakDas]

no

[@bobbyo1760]

Patchwork Proxy no it wasn't watch the mouse

[@logan32086]

Enjoy your videos very much! Thanks for making it easy to understand.

[@VanlifewithAlan]

Interesting analysis. I have never used the Sicilian as I think it takes too long to castle but you have given me something to think about.

[@chesswebsite]

haha, well since i have the fugees CD and took it off of the CD i think it's "ready or not" by the fugees.

[@pheisar]

I have started recently to watch your vids and i find them excellent. :) I think it would be visually better, regarding black defense openings, if you fliped the board so that black is at the bottom of the vid. Keep it up! :)

[@MS-hb3ol]

Ah yes a 10 year old comment. Nice. It'll be better if this guy sees this and replies

[@aboutstudies766]

Thank you Sir. Easily understandable!

[@chesswebsite]

Also if you need extra support on the light squares (depending on where white plays) you can always advance your a and b pawns which should put extra pressure on white's minor pieces but more importantly the b7 square would then become a great outpost for your bishop to add extra support on the light squares.

[@wildmansamurai3663]

Flip the board around, other than that good video.

[@flostriker7573]

what if white develops his knights instead of thrusting forward with his d-pawn?

[@MrDudeErNeSt]

dude i love your videos! it always explain alot!!

[@tmburns4]

Great video. Very succinct. Keep them coming!

[@Mudachucha]

Was that the Fugees at the very beginning? Wtf haha. Ready or not is my jam

[@Kole1389]

No, it's Boadicea by Enya. Fugees sampled it.

[@Mudachucha]

Oh. I'm dumb lol thanks

[@ivanpanic63]

+Marko Kostic Pokaj se Bogu,napisi SVE grehe na papir i ispovedi se u pravoslavnoj crkvi pred svestenikom kap svedokom tvog pokajanja da ti Bog oprosti grehe i da imas VECNI ZIVOT!!

[@Kole1389]

+Its TheDiks molim?

[@henryhenderson1257]

because Wyclef said: "bringing on Haitian sicilians" in it

[@rw4877]

Man I do love me a good defense

[@AngeloWasHere]

good video. good explanation in detail. good stuff over all.

[@markeagles8008]

Great vid! Thanks for the info on chess software and video stuff.

[@gimubatulo]

"Can I use the Sicilian Defense?" "Yes." "MALCALZONE!" -Mafalda

[@xMACC4Realx]

Whenever I play chess,I just make up my defences and offences as I go along.Stored some of it in my mind.Works pretty well for me :)

[@falcon2407]

Thanks man, love the help!

[@imaginationworld8699]

Thank you so much chess website your are AMAZING

[@ImASDFx2]

I heard the music in the beginning and I thought I clicked on an Atheism-Is-Unstoppable video. 😂

[@raymondbourke5506]

Me too lol

[@tasneemali4892]

Same

[@forceview3]

Eating a piece of Sicilian Pizza as I watch this

[@ImASDFx2]

How was it?

[@forceview3]

Awesome

[@idontcare76]

Sean Stanley same

[@justinj.421]

Sean Stanley Lmao

[@moceri55]

You mean Scfinccione?

[@chesswebsite]

that's awesome. keep up the good work

[@gotchahookedfishtrip]

I Love this defense been very deadly for me thanks Jim great job explaining

[@LazlosPlane]

Great video Thanks.. But I do so miss the romance of traditional notation; Pawn to King 4. Now THAT'S a chess move! This cold, computer language notation is dull and thoroughly without romance. e4. Sounds like a Bingo game. Alas. . .

[@callmecap10]

Nice point. Dig it.

[@Ohrami]

+LazlosPlane that's too confusing you son of a bitch i fucking hate you

[@LazlosPlane]

ROFL! Ohrami, do you have any strong feelings? Please, express your rage!

[@Ohrami]

+LazlosPlane EVERY DAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE A PROBLEM AND EVERY DAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE A PROBLEM WITH ME. WHATEVER IT IS, SHUT THE HELL UP, LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE, AND DON'T EVER TALK TO ME EVER AGAIN. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

[@LazlosPlane]

Have you tried Prozac?

[@kingkirby8960]

PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU TO TELL ME THE AMAZING MUSIC AT THE BEGINNING...

[@pedralicamosa]

+Golden Waffles Ready or not - the Fugees

[@kingkirby8960]

Thank you SO much

[@ronaldgreenjr1423]

+Sausage Biscuit Fugees..."Ready Or Not"

[@MrNikolidas]

+pedralicamosa I play my enemies like a game of chess.

[@k8shen480]

+Uni Afro i think that Enya didn't care too much for the fugees when she wrote this song. so write "enya-Boadicea" my friend ;)

[@tylerhudson7445]

I had no idea you got this popular. I was watching this vid when it had 20k views or something. Good job man I always believed in you.

[@83ADB]

great vid...I hope you'll upload some other variations of sicillian defense

[@timothyacowin9761]

5:01 but what about kings pawn to e5?

[@destructimus]

just a bush i was wondering the same thing. Only thing i can thinknof why not is that after a series of exchanges your king's file could be open with a pawn island on your queens file as well as an activated bishop on e4 if you capture the e4 pawn, assuming they pushed it... you do kinda gain a tempo kicking that knigh away tho... so i dunno

[@canefan17]

I wish yall would flip the screen when talking about black/defense. Easier for some of us beginners.

[@MrMarket1]

canefan17 pretty sure beginners shouldn't play the Sicilian

[@theburger9060]

canefan17 you should play the italian game if you are a beginner

[@mieknaem6144]

Is it just me or is he hating on all the Sicilian defences? Hope he hates equally on the others. I'll never find out though. What no tactics on how to defend against white? So frustrating. It would've been nice to see a more defense oriented point of view. I thought the Sicilian was a black position. All I've seen is how to play the first 5 moves then how white will crush it.

[@yanji84]

this is a great explaination, thanks

[@gauss327]

Could you make a video explaining what white should do in this situation?

[@ilaila3504]

i can't watch any of your vids as they are too quiet¬!

[@superawesomeninja2]

Why would white want to push his pawn down to e5? That would release tension from the center.

[@Killahcombo]

ivanwhythen i asked myself too

[@Talland0]

ivanwhythen It denies ...Nf6 :)

[@cndjx]

Thanks for the advice.

[@chesswebsite]

no problem. I like to use the sicilian almost exclusively against e4 because many players have lots of tricks or gambits that they have memorized but against the sicilian white is unable to do many of these. glad you found it.

[@Phoenix-ox2jr]

Omg that pronunciation of najdorf

[@siLence-84]

lol 'nazdorf' and 'fee en chetto'

[@markkelly3859]

I bet he can beat you in chess

[@ainbrisk545]

@@markkelly3859 cool?

[@michaelgriefen7377]

This is a great instructional website. I enjoy Kevin's commentary a lot, and I am learning so much! Do you know what did lovely music is?

[@maheshkotapalli1710]

Hey Kevin, I have learned a lot from your videos and it has definitely made me a better player !!! COULD YOU PLEASE POST A VIDEO TO PLAY AGAINST THE SICILIAN DEFENSE ?? I have always fall for pray to Sicilian defense !!!

[@quesques9627]

Who just got done watching “Queens Gambit”

[@henkwaterlander3038]

Bisshop to G7, that's a very good defence. I never would've thought of that. Thanks

[@Afrodisiac..]

thx man none of my friends want to help me with this defense.its a good thing i found this video

[@neelneel7771]

i liked the way he explained it. Great

[@ChessStuff64]

dude you are truly "one of a kind"

[@matthewbrown2442]

I like this opening for black because i can open it into so many other opening like, my favorite the Najdorf Variation in the sicilian defense and the dragon Variation. It keeps them guessing

[@Blobble22]

the transcribe audio actually works!

[@0cally]

I am very glad that u go slow and explain the reasoning behind each move. I have been playing for 2 days and can beat the computer on level 5 already.

[@chesswebsite]

I would say find a few openings that you like and study up on them. Then you may want to check out my middle game strategies and learn different tactics to keep an eye on during the match. If you want just short and sweet advice, control the center of the board and the rest will take care of itself.

[@chesswebsite]

yeah def great english. The software i use for chess is Aquarium. The recording software I use is windows media encoder (free software) and editing i use windows movie maker (free software).

[@pasoj4al6sjd3kfhpwie]

You were discussing variations and one thing that kept coming to my mind was moving the kings pawn up to E5 to attack the knight and control the center of the board. Why isn't this a good option?

[@bigups43]

@iddtelyoubut its called Fiancetto and its when you post the bishop on kingside on either the g7 or g2 square. This gives a nice long attack on the diagonal and allows the bishop to move around the pawns.

[@ruellan2003]

Excellent video ! Peter Ruellan

[@ForumArcade]

@iddtelyoubut Fianchetto. It's when you move the bishop to either the B2 or G2 square (for white), or B3/G3 for black. Typically, the B/G pawn would be one square ahead of its home rank for the fianchetto.

[@rello829]

you got a good voice for teaching

[@eduardooo123]

Thanks for this.

[@blazethesecond]

@iddtelyoubut a fianchetto is the technique where you move your bishop to one of the four corner outposts: b2 b7 g2 or g7. its a hypermodern technique. In other words, classical chess players control the center with pawns and support with minor pieces. A hypermodern player doesn't mind to control the center with pawns, or fianchetto his bishop and control the center, as well as the entire diagonal, with his minor pieces.

[@PINOYMIGO]

On your website on the first Best Move and #10 instead of the pawn you could have checkmated the king by bringing the queen down the diagonal capturing the pawn and being guarded by the dark square bishop. If you check that out that'd be great.

[@UchihaoItachi]

@combo879 i watched some chess games the last 4 days ^^ i also learned some stuff about controlling the center ,now when i start with pawn e-4 the game becomes more fun than when i used to play random so i think what you say is absolutely true i improved alot in 4 days by looking at chess games and solving chess puzzles , that's why i don't think anymore of learning opening at this time ^^ thanks alot for your replay ill keep it in mind ^^ cya

[@001caustin]

@texasberry my bad. your right it's pretty rare usually Nf3 before d4

[@arshiakarthikeyan3932]

Yes Artistry, I agree

[@canadiandude1919]

and yes thank you for this i did learn alot

[@DavidKnowles]

The fianchetto is a staple of many "hypermodern" openings, whose philosophy is to delay direct occupation of the center with the plan of undermining and destroying the opponent's central outpost. It also regularly occurs in Indian defences. The fianchetto is less common in open games (1.e4 e5) but the king's bishop is sometimes fianchettoed by Black in the Spanish Game or by White in an uncommon variation of the Vienna Game.

[@brain5531]

Hi Kevin, can you do one video on the king’s fianchetto opening?

[@user-es2df3nq2g]

Awesome Video

[@dariuszlipowski7632]

Have you ever play such game as Taifho ? It`s chess and checker combination. Fantastic game.

[@bossgodfrey4841]

Nice video!

[@YsnipezYMw2]

I love learning the massive amount of theory to play the open Sicilian as white. what fun.

[@ashaystephen2306]

Mr.Kevin, at 3:30, you mention not to re-capture the pawn on d4 because the knight on C6. If black moves his knight there can't you pin it with Bb5? Thanks!

[@bennigan88]

I loved this video...you got right to the point, thank god! Some chess videos are miserable because the narrator just talks and talks unnecessarily.

[@DawsonCosmos]

Hey Chess Website. Love the videos. Whats that music that opens this piece? Sounds like a score to fantasy movie. Thanks.

[@TreyGre7]

Fugees "Ready or Not" intro lol, love it

[@IsaacPiera]

3:15 if you take the pawn with the queen and black pushes with the knight, white can just move the queen to a4 pinning the knight. So it's not a bad move using the queen

[@sakisgiotas3940]

I want to ask you something. Openings are only for black or white, or you can play for example the sicilian defence with whites?

[@peej2164]

2:12 Don't do e5 in like the first 10 moves because it weakens d5 which the knight would love to go to, and it weakens a lot of the position

[@chesswebsite]

You really don't want to weaken your kingside protection with f3. You do want to protect the pawn so the best play is to develop a piece and protect at the same time which we do with Nc3. Hope this helps.