Strategic Repertoire against the Sicilian Defense - Play the Rossolimo

The camp Strategic Repertoire against the Sicilian - Play the Rossolimo is already a digital product. This product includes all the videos from the camp as well as the PGN file related to the training sessions. Overall, the material consists of 10.5 hours of video and a PGN database, which includes 167 files!

You will find the following lectures:

✅ Typical Ideas and Strategies - Part 1

✅ Typical Ideas and Strategies - Part 2

✅ Repertoire against 3...Nf6, 3...Qc7, and the Rare Lines

✅ 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 - Complete Repertoire for White

✅ 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e5 - Complete Repertoire for White

✅ Black Plays 3...g6 - Part 1

✅ Black Plays 3...g6 - Part 2

Now, we shall take a look at the different lectures.

Typical Ideas and Strategies - Part 1

The starting position of the Rossolimo arises after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5

The Rossolimo is a rich opening containing many different strategies. The Rossolimo is the best practical choice for White, while it's theoretically equal to 3.d4 (which requires much more theoretical knowledge).
Black has many acceptable systems, and with this lecture, we will begin by examining the different strategies White has at his disposal against each of them.
Strategic themes in this lecture:
> Playing in the centre with c3-d4
> Doubled pawns on the c-file
> Dark square strategy
> Hedgehog structure

Typical Ideas and Strategies - Part 2

In this lecture, we continue to examine typical strategic ideas. We begin by studying positions with doubled c-pawns in more detail.
Strategic themes in this lecture:
> Doubled pawns on the c-file
> Playing against Black's light-squared bishop after exchanging on c6
> When to play e4-e5
> Semi-dark-square strategy

Repertoire against 3...Nf6, 3...Qc7, and the Rare Lines

Let's take again a look at the initial position of the Rossolimo Variation.

In this lecture we are going to cover 3...Nf6 and some more rarely played lines. White can get the advantage against 3...Qc7, 3...Qb6, and 3...a6. Even in the best continuation of this chapter, 3...Nf6, Black must follow very narrow path to get a playable position.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 - Complete Repertoire for White

The main topic of this lecture is the position arising after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.0-0 Nge7 5.d4

This is our repertoire move. White's strategy is quite straightforward, and he has good chances to gain the advantage.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e5 - Complete Repertoire for White

This lecture deals with the position arising after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e5 4.0-0 Bd6

This non-standard move is Black's best chance. After other continuations, White usually gets the advantage by simply going c3 followed by d4.

At this point, the suggestion of Papaioannou is 5.c3 a6 6.Ba4 b5 7.Bb3!? - This will be analysed in some detail in the theory section.

Black Plays 3...g6 - Part 1

In this lecture, Papaioannou starts dealing with Black's most popular weapon against the Rossolimo - 3...g6. In the first part of the survey, the Greek grandmaster starts explaining the position arising after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.0-0 Bg7 5.c3

Now, Black has two main options. ...e5 and ....Nf6. In case of 5...e5, Papaioannou suggests 6.d3 followed by Be3 and d3-d4. The most important position of the variation is being reached after 5...Nf6 6.Re1 0-0

At this point, Papaioannou suggests two weapons for White - 7.h3!? and 7.d4 which is covered in the next lecture. After 7.h3!?, we often reach a middlegame where plans matter instead of exact theory.

Black Plays 3...g6 - Part 2

The last lecture is dedicated to the position arising after 7.d4 d5 8.e5 Ne4

Usually, we reach this structure where Black has his knight on e4 and we have a little bit more space in the center. Black can also choose to capture the pawn on d4 now or later. Our main idea is to capture on c6 and take advantage of the weak c6-pawn, or in some cases, trade the e4-knight and launch a kingside attack with moves like Bg5-Qd2.