Dreev's Deep Classical Sicilian – Part 2: Answering the Sozin and Every Alternative to the Rauzer
When Bobby Fischer and Dragoljub Velimirović wanted to fight the Classical Sicilian, they reached for 6.Bc4, the Sozin. The bishop aims straight at Black's kingside, and decades later it remains the most important alternative to 6.Bg5.
GM Alexey Dreev's answer is immediate. After 6...Qb6 7.Ndb5 he plays 7...Bg4!?, a move Vladimir Kramnik tried only once, back in 1996. It is rare, it is sound, and in Dreev's own words, your opponent will be surprised.
Where Games Are Won
In Dreev's Deep Classical Sicilian: A Complete Repertoire for Black – Part 1, the authors studied the Richter-Rauzer with 6.Bg5. Part 2 takes on everything else White can play on move 6.
The theory here is smaller, but it cannot be skipped. These lines appear constantly in practice, and many players know only the main line. That gap is exactly where Black can play for a win.
The Authors and Their Approach
GM Alexey Dreev and GM Pier Luigi Basso have built some of the most detailed repertoires on Modern Chess, from the Caro-Kann to the Catalan and the Nimzo-Indian. Here Dreev leads with his own idea, while the repertoire as a whole follows one principle: never let White develop comfortably.
Against the Sozin, 6...Qb6 hits the d4-knight at once. If White retreats with 7.Nb3 e6 8.Bf4, the quiet 8...Qd8!? looks like a loss of tempo but is not, as Boris Gelfand and Alireza Firouzja (Candidates 2024) have shown. After 7.Nxc6 bxc6, Black is very comfortable, and against the critical 8.Nd5!? in the main line, the play becomes forcing.
The alternatives receive the same concrete treatment. Against the English Attack with 6.f3, Black hits back with 6...e5 and ...Be6, aiming for ...d5. Against 6.Be3, the jump 6...Ng4 is very unpleasant for White. Even 6.h3, used by Magnus Carlsen and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and the potentially venomous 6.h4!? have dedicated chapters.
Map of Variations
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6
6.Bc4 (Sozin) Qb6!?
- 7.Ndb5 Bg4!?
- 8.f3 → Chapter 1
- 8.Nd5!? → Chapter 2
- 7.Nb3 e6
- 8.Bf4 Qd8!? → Chapter 3
- 8.O-O Qc7 9.Be3 → Chapter 4
- 7.Nxc6 bxc6 → Chapter 5
- 7.Nde2 → Chapter 6
6.f3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 → Chapter 7
6.Bb5 → Chapter 8
6.Be3 Ng4 → Chapter 9
6.Nd5!? → Chapter 10
6.f4 → Chapter 11
6.g3 → Chapter 12
6.h3 → Chapter 13
6.Be2 e5 → Chapter 14
6.h4!? → Chapter 15
Premium Course Features
This is a Modern Chess Premium course, built as a complete training system:
- 15 theory chapters
- Video instruction throughout
- 50 test positions: critical moments with tactical and strategic solutions
- 5 training positions for interactive practice against the engine
- 3 model games showing the ideas in high-level play
- 5 things to know: the typical patterns and concepts of the repertoire
- Memory File: the 15 chapters condensed into one, holding the most important lines
- Memory Booster for long-term recall of the key ideas
- To-Go Version of every chapter: condensed files for fast pre-game review
- Multilingual PGN files in English, German, French and Spanish
- Full download access: all materials are yours to keep
Build Your Classical Sicilian
Together with Part 1, this volume gives you a concrete answer to every major White system after 5...Nc6, from the Rauzer to the Sozin and beyond.
Explore Dreev's Deep Classical Sicilian: A Complete Repertoire for Black – Part 2 and bring 7...Bg4!? to your next game.
INTRODUCTION
SAMPLE CHAPTER
SAMPLE VIDEO