The Sicilian defence, usually called just the Sicilian, is a chess opening, which starts with these moves:
- 1. e4 c5
In competitive chess, it is by far the most frequently played reply to the King's Pawn opening (1.e4).
The open Sicilian
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 |              | 8 | |||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
- Open variations 1e4 c5 2Nf3 followed by 3d4. A typical line is
- 1.e4 c5
- 2.Nf3 d6
- 3.d4 cxd4
- 4.Nxd4 Nf6
- 5.Nc3
Now Black decides where to put his KB: on e7 or g7; his QN will probably go to c6.
The closed Sicilian
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 | | 8 | |||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
- Closed variations 1e4 c5 2Nc3 not followed by d4. A typical line is
- 1.e4 c5
- 2.Nc3 Nc6
- 3.f4 d6
- 4.Nf3 g6
- 5.Bb5 Bg7
- 6.d3
Instead of 3.f4, a slower game with 3.g3 followed by Bg2 and d3 could be chosen by White.
- ECO code B20–B99. ECO is the Encyclopaedia of chess openings.
The English Wikibooks has more information on: