Chess openings - Sicilian Defence: Open Sicilian

[@keithmeeks1281]

I have watched several 1 hour long videos on the Sicilian and none of them even mention the basic idea that it is about giving up a flank pawn for a center pawn. I learned more in 12 minutes than in probably 7 hours of other presentations. Thanks.

[@ani-planet3747]

Keith Meeks EXACTLY

[@thecraziesttexts]

@@ani-planet3747 IKR literally, i might have not learned no theory, but this has really been so much more valuable than any other sicilian video

[@charlespg3d190]

If you are watching 1 hour long videos on the Sicilian the person would assume that you’d understand something this simple, because most videos that long contain loads of theory that only experienced players would learn.

[@theotheral6]

Vm

[@lewisjones284]

My advice to anyone who has the same sentiment: don't learn the Sicilian for now. If you didn't pick up on this concept in the first place, you most likely don't have the experience necessary to benefit from learning all the complicated Sicilian lines.

[@Daggerfall40]

This is honestly one of the best descriptions of the Sicilian I've ever seen. It doesn't just throw a whole bunch of variations at you like most videos here on You Tube making it perfect for beginners!

[@razzaxxe]

As a beginner, these videos have been incredibly helpful for me. I still suck, but now I know why. Thanks Dereque!

[@KebuChess]

Lol, thank you!! :)

[@greg55666]

Dereque, this video is really fantastic. I learned more here than I have ever learned. Comparing the Sicilian to the Scotch game was really really helpful, because in every case the issues involved are so subtle and long-term, it is hard to really grasp what the issues are even if you're following along. You might want to consider doing more videos focusing on that--the Ruy Lopez vs. the Scotch Game, Scotch Game vs. Sicilian, etc. It really provides insight.

[@KebuChess]

greg55666 Sweet!! I remember being excited about this way of discussing the opening. Thank you for the suggestions :)

[@MrSupernova111]

I enjoyed it too! Please make more videos with quick comparisons of similar concepts. Thank you!

[@swicheroo1]

You are so good at explaining stuff. I finally got into playing the game after over 3 decades away. And I'm familiar with the names or the openings and some of the basic movements. But you're so good at explaining the reasoning behind choices.

[@jyotikavarmani4454]

This video was fantastic! Dereque has explained the concepts very clearly, and in great detail. I was engrossed throughout. Thank you.

[@KebuChess]

***** Cool! :)

[@goalieslayer]

i dont know much about chess but this dudes passion is infectious. love it.

[@miked2543]

This is easily one of the top 3 instructive chess channels that i have come across. It is very lucid and thorough in it's analysis and it is well produced.

[@KebuChess]

Thank you very much!! I so much appreciate this! :)

[@ahmedroberts4883]

I just love Dereque's videos. They are so clear, well done, and informative. Thank you, Sir.

[@KebuChess]

+Ahmed Roberts Thank you thank you!

[@Basajaun10]

The best video I've seen regarding chess lessons. Timing, sidelines, conclusions... everything. Understood in depth allowing me to apply new concepts in to my game. Loved it. Edit: Upon watching a second time I realized that coordenates on the board while explaining would be very helpfull. I understand that is not issue for more advanced players but it is hard for me to keep up with the explanation without pausing xD.

[@MattErdnad]

Your enthusiasm is uplifting! very informative and well-illustrated video as well, I learned a lot, thanks.

[@KebuChess]

Great to hear! Thank you for the kind words :)

[@WorkAtHomeTruth]

Long, long ago, I used to be an A rated player - I NEVER had the clarity that your explanations are giving me now. I'm loving your videos.

[@KebuChess]

@pardeep kumar: Thank you for the suggestions!

[@KebuChess]

Good question! Though 4...Nxd4 5.Qxd4 is possible, Black's better strategies both have to do with trying to get -White- to initiate this exchange or retreat the knight. In the 4...Bc5 variation discussed in the video (shown in the video), Black is able to force White to make some concessions on account of the knight's vulnerability. Glad to hear you're enjoying the videos!

[@anderson.r.ferreira]

The best channel on You túbera about chess openings! Congratulations!

[@CorveusRain]

Your videos have made me a SIGNIFICANTLY better chess player. Thanks so much for your clear explanations, and your fantastic videos!

[@KebuChess]

Nice!! You're welcome :-)

[@abualtamash]

Man! This is the best channel about chess I've found on KZbin. Everything was explained so nicely...

[@RahulPaharia]

this is one of the best channel on youtube! this helped me to defeat my opponentes thanks again. i watch this vedio 1 hour a day. i like your confidence of speaking.

[@wakefieldyorkshire]

Thanks for the brilliant explanation; i have watches quite a few games with the sicilian defense but never new exactly what it was about, for me this lecture has stripped away the mystery and got right down to the bare bones of it. Many thanks.

[@KebuChess]

Thank you for the suggestion and the kind words. Glad you are enjoying the videos!

[@richardadams1909]

Thanks for your excellent videos! I'm getting back into chess after a long layoff; your videos are perfectly based and woffle-free - a great way to begin an exploration of unfamiliar openings!

[@KebuChess]

Welcome back to the game, and thank you for the kind words!

[@boopathisairaju6173]

Richard Adams hu

[@Tubeman777]

I stumbled upon these great videos after looking on KZbin for clear chess strategy so what a pleasant suprise! Very clear and concise points. Has improved my chess already. Thankyou!

[@matthiasengh7935]

You're really good at explaining these complicated ideas in a way that is understandable and it seems I can take away key implications and premises

[@KebuChess]

Thank you very much, I appreciate these kind and encouraging words and welcome to the channel!! :)

[@entehrend]

These are the best opening videos I've seen on KZbin, thanks for making these.

[@angeldead26]

Ok..I am a huge scislian player and it is one of my fav openings for black...I prefer using the old scisilian though...cause u still can use dragon and pin variation ..I think the best variation for black is the pin variation..cause after which u just force them trade queens with u

[@klimtkiller]

you didnt really teach me much about how to play this opening well. just how black falls behind in development

[@markanthonypar-wise1499]

yup I agree

[@uanto]

I think the title of the video is wrong.

[@bashirabdel-fattah9499]

If you want to learn how to play the Sicilian, Tony Rotella (the author of "The Killer Sicilian") has about 7.5 hours of content covering the theory on his channel.

[@wenaolong]

By the way, I only had time for the first half of this last time. I'm glad I came to watch the second half because here you unfold the bigger picture of the opening. More than that, you show how it is logistic operation of time, space, and development which runs in and out of overlaps and parallels with other openings, and is an evolving entity with its own character. I got a picture of how openings blend into middlegames, like a window through time, esp. what you said from 10:45 to 11:51.

[@taylorstrange310]

Here after 8 years of this video being posted, and I'm glad I found it, no doubt more people will following Queens gambit being released

[@7mean7bunny7]

Best chess videos on the net by far. Thank you for helping develop my game Dereque!

[@KebuChess]

This is a critical line as well, which tends to lead to a series of differing ramifications. White often still plays 3.d4 (though 3.Bb5 is quite popular in this case as well). Basically - 2...Nc6 is quite possible and also quite popular!

[@KebuChess]

@Timothy Nixon: a) Thank you! b) I appreciate the suggestion - perhaps one day! No, it is not terribly popular. c) I am mainly interested in building applications and software.

[@KebuChess]

Thank you for the suggestion and kind words! I'm glad you're enjoying the videos

[@KebuChess]

Wow, thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying and learning from the videos so much -Dereque

[@ConsumerkingUk]

This chap is the best chess presenter. So clear.

[@KebuChess]

I'm not sure which position you're specifically referring to but in general this would lead to a loss of time (since the knight uses some time in the opening and then voluntarily trades itself in a way which improves the opponent's position) and bring one of Black's pawns (the b-pawn) closer to the center when it recapture by playing ...bxc6. This often assists Black in achieving ...d5.

[@joedecamara7000]

Amazing videos. Clear language. Broken down very nicely. Thank you so very much.

[@KebuChess]

Thank you for the suggestions! Glad you are enjoying the videos

[@KebuChess]

@Arthur Zalas: Thank you for the kind words! Really glad to hear this video will be helpful to you in the coming struggle! -Dereque

[@KebuChess]

"tempo" means move or time. In the Open Sicilian Black loses a tempo due to the exchange on d4. After White plays Nxd4, it's as if White was given a free move to centralize his knight, for example.

[@KebuChess]

Thank you very much for the encouraging words! I'm glad you're findng the videos helpful :-) -Dereque

[@KebuChess]

If you are referring to 1.e4 c5 2.Bc4?! Black most often is able to harass the c4-bishop early on with tempo. For example many games have continued: 2...e6 (threatening 3...d5) 3.Nc3 a6 (intending ...b5) 4.a4 Nc6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.d3 d5 - and Black's position is already slightly preferable to White's thanks to his greater central control

[@KebuChess]

Thanks for the kind remarks and suggestion !

[@KebuChess]

Glad to hear you are enjoying the videos!

[@matthewstokes9996]

Your videos are helping me a lot there very informative and constructed in a clear and concise manner please keep making more of them so i can keep increasing my knowledge.

[@KebuChess]

Matthew Stokes :) Thank you!

[@SatenSheets]

I love your enthusiasm for the game, thanks for making these informative and exciting vids.

[@krishnaprem2847]

Thank you so much for the kind words, I truly appreciate it! ~ Swami Krishna Prem, formerly known as Dereque Kelley

[@KebuChess]

Glad you enjoy the video! Who knows? Jrobi also seems to know quite a bit!

[@billmarkelz]

Thank you, your oversights of this development were very useful and entertaining.

[@SpiritualFox]

This truely is all you need to know about the position. It's a speed based position for white. A central pawn has been 'gambited away' in exchange for a flank one. White's desperation to keep moving forward makes his moves both predictable, and hard to counter. This is why you can get such fantastical positions. White cannot play positional moves. White aims to deploy all pieces without moving another pawn. Black creates a huge positional imbalance by entering into the najdorf. Yes, black goes down in piece development, however black suddenly gains a lead in 'position/pawn structure'. Also, it enables black to reply to a queenside castling with B7-B5, which is probably the reason the najdorf is so good. Queenside castling counts as a two-fer in terms of piece deployment, if you can pull it off.

[@KebuChess]

Excellent!

[@amazingvideoproduction]

Amazing instructional video. I recently just started playing chess and already learned much from you. Thanks for the video.

[@ThisSentenceIsFalse]

Definitely helped to improve my understanding of the Sicilian.

[@movingwithmat]

You are awesome. Very informed, articulate and engaging - Keep doing what you're doing man.

[@humanaesthetic]

Love the clear explanations of concepts. Thank you.

[@krishnaprem2847]

Thank you, this is so great to hear!! - Swami Krishna Prem, formerly known as Dereque Kelley

[@KebuChess]

It's difficult to come up with any alternatives options since dxc5 threatens to complicate Black's position by trading queens on d8 and White also may advance the pawn to d5 with a space advantage - let's say 3...Nd7?! 4.d5 or 4.Nc3 both looking strong for White, 3...a6?! 4.dxc5 and 3...Nf6 4.Nc3 Nd7 5.dxc5 Nxc5 6.e5 are some variations.

[@r0z3d]

You've got a bright success on KZbin! Great videos!!

[@laali_puppy]

Just saw this site today, and wow, great videos and really educational. Thanks so much for your high quality work!

[@KebuChess]

@NewVahan2011: Hadn’t considered the Smith-Morra! This is a great suggestion. Noted :-)

[@KebuChess]

Scandianvian sounds like a good suggestion! I've taken note. And thank you for the encouraging words :-) -Dereque

[@nairvinodh]

very well explained.....you have a nice voice too. great going. hope to see more.... thanks dereque

[@sindrefossum3342]

I know that the Sicilian is one of the best replies to 1.e4. But I never play it as black, because I'm afraid of the english attack, which accurs after the dragon and najdorf. I know that I have to counter attack on the queenside, but I'm not a very good attacking player! My style is more defencive and solid. Do you recomend this opening to me Dereque?

[@KebuChess]

I would say that Bd2 would generally be an appropriate response to such a build-up? It really depends on the position!

[@KebuChess]

I believe our video on the Najdorf Sicilian addresses this question - try checking it out!

[@Karthik-yy6up]

Wow. That was an amazing explanation. Helped me understand the reasoning behind the moves.

[@KebuChess]

Karthik Iyengar Great to hear!

[@KebuChess]

Glad you're enjoying the videos, thank you!

[@KebuChess]

Glad to hear and thank you for the suggestion!

[@KebuChess]

@TemplumAtrum: Thanks you for the kind words! Suggestions noted! :-)

[@seitapril2023offline]

Ah thank your for summarizing this openng. Now I understood that when Im playing black and choose the Sicilian defence its bascially an advantage in the longterm if white can be kept from breaking through (and ofcourse the probably occuring own flaws are not decisive enough).

[@MutenKami]

Can you do a video on the accelerated dragon and/or hyper accelerated dragon? And show some of the key strategies for black and some main lines. Thanks! Your videos are the best!

[@NeuralToonworks]

min 4:20 why doesn't black play pawn to e4 to push away the knight ?

[@icecolddr-pepper4486]

Kromba you mean e5. and you could, but that would create a backward pawn and a weak d5 square.

[@KebuChess]

This is a possible line! But it might be revealing too much information to White so that he could change his setup after ...e5, but it's still a possibility, great question! And Shawn's points do apply!

[@KebuChess]

Excellent points Shawn! :)

[@KebuChess]

@ThisSentenceIsFalse: Great! Glad you found the video helpful -Dereque

[@KebuChess]

Good question, This possibility is covered in the video "c3 Sicilian"

[@Matt0wMok]

Excellent video! Helped me a lot :) I want you to make a video on Sicilian dragon - it's my favourite variation of Sicilian!

[@DeeJuggy]

this is very well done! thank you for the information playing now since almost a decade an I think I'll open with this :)

[@KebuChess]

I'm glad you found the video helpful, thank you!

[@wenaolong]

It's one of my favorites. I find that when I accept an open Sicilian with White it is very likely I'm going to get kingside attacking chances. When I'm playing black I strike into the queenside and center as hard as I can and get good chances.

[@kaitsith3081]

Best videos on here!

[@KebuChess]

Glad you're enjoying them!! :)

[@kriszed5329]

Been watching a lot of chess videos on you-tube lately and Dereque's explanations are great for players like me. It is really important to know WHY they make these moves in the openings. I hope you make a lot more of these videos in future, but if you can, please put the co-ordinates of the squares on the board graphic. Dereque will sometime mention possible moves with co-ordinates and the grey board doesn't have the letters written on it so I need to open up another program. Anyway, keep up the good work, and along with "Kevin from the chess website" you are really helping my game!

[@KebuChess]

Chris Ziffo I'm very happy to hear you're enjoying the videos. Thank you for all of your words! I appreciate the feedback as well. :) :)

[@victav]

Dude if I ever bump into you at a bar or something I'm paying for several of your drinks. I've already learned so much from you!!

[@aeroskullyhead]

good instruction and briefly explained, learn so much already, love to subscribe your channel...

[@KebuChess]

@jdhrtl: Thank you, glad you enjoyed the video!

[@mongolz1000]

I have to say that Dereque's videos are not balls deep, but they are deep enough to understand the majority of the tactics. I especially do like that he tries to tell us the ideas behind every significant move.

[@KebuChess]

Thank you very much!! :)

[@wenaolong]

A chesstastic introduction of the Sicilian.

[@VideoBash2]

Could you give me a few ideas and long-term plans for this Sicilian variation: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 Nc3. Thanks!

[@KebuChess]

Lol, thank you! Glad to hear you're finding the videos instructive!

[@黃毅倫-f2o]

It's even nice to see you smiling and speaking

[@osamaqattous3716]

3:35 if you played the dragon variation you would develop both dark and light square bishop

[@KebuChess]

Perhaps! I'm not sure how you figure this however ... because developing Black's light squared bishop is not trivial in the Dragon

[@michael6313]

Sannan playing that knight is the classical variation it's only preference so just look at classical lines if you like playing 5....Nc6

[@MattCookVideos]

Check out the damn picture quality of this 2010 video! Holy crap! I don't even have this good quality in 2019! Also, I like the way he explains in terms of WHY the position is valuable for both black and white and what strategies they imply.

[@KebuChess]

:) Thank you for the kind words!

[@KebuChess]

It is a gift which is years old - I am not sure how it was purchased!

[@rahulvartak410]

Amazing Stuff Dereque! Bravo!!! If you could you do one on on the Sicilian - accelerated dragon, that would be superb. Thanks a ton for the very helpful and educative vidoes

[@KrunchymanTheBold]

At 10:30, why does black not play e5 instead of e6? This would cause white to lose tempo by forcing the knight off d4 and provide space for black's light square bishop.

[@arunavachatterjee2433]

+Nathaniel Le Sage playing an early e5 means giving up control of the d5 square to white prematurely. It later becomes (generally) a pawn or knight outpost for white. In general, black waits for white to commit to one of the diagonals for his midgame. Generally, white tends to make this the queenside diagonal. Once white has committed, then either of the moves d5 or e5 is played. Black's idea with the Open Sicilian is to maintain central pawn dominance. Playing either d5 or e5 prematurely risks cheaply squandering that advantage.

[@Mirrodin82]

Great stuff man thumbs up. Please make a vid on Philidor defence.

[@razer9003]

I am new to chess. Why in ur tutorial (05:54) black knight didn't captured the white knight. (Your videos are very instructive and easy to learn. Thanks for ur efforts.)

[@winnerindustries3598]

Hey man, this is really good stuff. You are turning my chess abc's into ABC's.

[@KebuChess]

Thank you, I very much appreciate this!!

[@sleepy4x]

A big advantage for black in the Open Sicilian (as far as average players are concerned) is, that he has "only" to know his pet variation. White has to know good lines against, the Dragon, Najdorf, Sveshnikov, Scheveningen, Kan, Paulsen, Kalashnikov, Classic and even more.

[@KebuChess]

Excellent insight! Thank you

[@7mean7bunny7]

Dereque you can do it! I can see the new subtitle at the beginning of your future videos. Dereque Kelley Grand Master! Also Dereque I am not sure if you think it is enough of a played opening to consider making a video on it, but a lot of my opponents lately have been playing the Scandinavian Defense, so if it isn't too wild of a suggestion maybe you could put some thought into making a video on it possibly? If you do, please cover the Anderssen counter-attack variation if you can. Ty again!

[@evhwolfgang2003]

Awesome video! Your channel is exactly what I have been looking for :)

[@KebuChess]

Dane Calderon Great! :)

[@KebuChess]

Glad you found the video helpful! -Dereque

[@ahbalmajnoun4476]

10x for this instructive video i've been watching ur videos recently and i have improved in chess because of u but can you please make a video about sicilian scheveningen

[@carjunan2738]

Very informative and enlightining . Love you man

[@krishnaprem2847]

Much love to you also, thank you for this!! :)

[@thehooptytube]

I see why you like the Nimzo-Indiean. I just watched your video. I am going to start working on it myself. I do have a question about your board. What size is your board? Size of the squares? How tall is the king? It looks like a nice set. Thanks again for the great videos.