Sicilian Arsenal for White  Arsenal

Sicilian Arsenal for White: Closing the Book on the Open Sicilian

Löwenthal, O'Kelly, Nimzowitsch, Grivas and others — the Sicilian's minor roads are paved with the names of players who wanted no part of a theoretical main line. Each found a way to sidestep the Najdorf and the Sveshnikov and reach a position where preparation runs thin and the game is decided by understanding rather than memory. They are easy to underestimate, and that is exactly the problem: the half-points that slip away against a sideline you half-remember are the ones that quietly hold a rating in place. Sicilian Arsenal for White is the volume that answers all of them.

The volume that closes the series

This is the seventh and final volume of the authors' Open Sicilian project for White, the conclusion to their Jospem versus the Sicilian series. The earlier volumes answered the main roads — Najdorf, Rauzer, Sveshnikov. This one closes the book on everything else: the sidelines, the move-order tricks, the "what do I play against THIS?" positions. The word sideline is misleading; these are the lines where points leak away, and here they receive the same depth the main systems did.

The course is written by GM Jose Martinez Alcantara — whose online handle, Jospem, gives the series its name — together with GM Pier Luigi Basso and IM Dragos Ceres. Their aim stays constant throughout: objective where objectivity decides the game, practical where the clock does. Against the increasingly popular Four Knights, for instance, they sidestep mainstream theory with 6.Qd3, preparing long castling and a knight maneuver to g3 to drag Black onto unfamiliar ground from the start.

A map of the repertoire

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3

2...Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 — the Four Knights, met by 6.Qd3 → Chapter 1

• 4...e5 5.Nb5 d6 — the Kalashnikov, pressured with 6.c4 → Chapter 2
• 4...e5 5.Nb5 a6 — the Löwenthal → Chapter 3
• 4...Qb6 — the Grivas Variation → Chapter 5
• 2...Nc6 fourth-move sidelines → Bonus Chapter 14
• 2...Nc6 fifth-move sidelines → Bonus Chapter 15

2...e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4

• 4...Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 — the Rublevsky System, answered with 6.Bf4 → Chapter 4
• 4...Nc6 5.Nc3 Bc5 — the Safarli Line, met by 6.Nb3 → Chapter 9
• 4...Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 — the Pin Variation → Chapter 7
• 4...Qb6 and 4...Bc5 → Chapter 8

2...d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 — the Scheveningen → Chapter 12

• 5...e5 and related fifth-move sidelines → Chapter 6
• ...a6, transposing into the Najdorf — Scheveningen via Najdorf → Bonus Chapter 13

2...a6 — the O'Kelly Sicilian, met by the delayed Alapin 3.c3 → Chapter 10

2...Nf6 — the Nimzowitsch Sicilian, a low-theory, fully playable solution → Chapter 11

2...b6 and others → Bonus Chapter 16

Premium Course Features

This is a Modern Chess Premium course, built as a complete training system:

• 16 theory chapters with video explanations
• 30 test positions — critical moments with tactical and strategic solutions
• 5 training positions for interactive computer practice
• To-Go Version of every chapter — condensed files for pre-game review
• Memory Booster — for long-term recall of key ideas
• Multilingual PGN files — English, German, French, and Spanish
• Full download access — all materials are yours to keep

With the main systems handled in the earlier volumes and every minor road answered here, the Jospem versus the Sicilian series is now complete. Add Sicilian Arsenal for White to your repertoire and close the last gaps in your preparation against the Sicilian.

INTRODUCTION BY GM PIER LUIGI BASSO

SAMPLE CHAPTER

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