Play the Taimanov Sicilian
We are happy to announce that the former World Champion GM Alexander Khalifman has published his first course for Modern Chess - Play the Taimanov Sicilian.
The starting position of this course is reached after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6
Khalifman invested a lot of time and energy into this project. After many months of investigations, he got fully convinced that Taimanov Variation is working fine from a conceptual point of view. During your work on the material, you will find many fresh ideas and new directions in well-known critical positions. According to Khalifman, Taimanov is very suitable for players who want to play for a win. In his opinion, compared to the other Sicilian mainlines, Taimanov is less theoretical.
The database consists of 15 theoretical chapters, 15 interactive test positions, a Memory Booster, and a Video Version (9 hours of Video Running Time).
Now, we shall take a brief look at the content of the course.
Chapter 1 is dedicated to the extremely important topical line arising after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Qf3
This move became popular in the 21st century and it's the top engines' first line. Besides the typical ideas of castling long and supporting the advance of the pawns on the kingside, White wants to play Qg3, intending to exchange the queens and recapture with the h-pawn which would give White some pressure down the h-file.
At this point, the suggestion of Khalifman is 7...h5!? A very original move that's not bad at all. It's very rare and the statistics are in Black's favor. First of all, this is a kind of a prophylactic move since it prevents White's kingside expansion; Second, it supports a knight coming to the g4-square; And third, after Qg3, Black will avoid the queen trade and will chase White's queen away with h5-h4.
In the next two chapters, Khalifman examines another important tabiya - 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Qd2
This is the most popular move with which White is preparing the so-called English attack. White plans to castle long and then expand on the kingside with the moves f3 and g4. With knowledge of the ideas and some concrete variations, practice has shown that Black can reach a comfortable position in all variations.
Our reaction to this system will be 7...Nf6. Chapter 2 features all the systems in which White deviates from the English Attack based on f2-f3 followed by g2-g4. This classical version of the English Attack is examined in Chapter 3. In both cases, Black manages to obtain a decent counterplay.
The subject of Chapter 4 is the position arising after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Bd3
This move appeared in the early 20th century and was considered to be the main line for a long time. The advantage of this move for White is that White doesn't have to be very precise and isn't risking to land in a worse position, however, the drawback is that it doesn't put immediate pressure on Black, which is the reason why this set-up isn't as popular anymore. Khalifman proves that the setup based on 7...Nf6 followed by ...b7-b5 works very well for Black.
Chapter 5 is dedicated to the position occurring after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.g4
This move became popular recently and is one of the most dangerous tries from White, together with 7.Qf3. This line needs to be taken seriously and requires accuracy from Black.
The main line goes 7...Nxd4 8.Qxd4 b5 9.0-0-0 Bb7 - White's queen is very active on the d4-square but Black's plan is to play Rc8 and b5-b4 next. Concrete analysis shows that Black has more than enough counterplay.
Chapter 6 examines the position arising after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.a3
This prophylactical move might seem shy and less dangerous than the other options, however, it's quite poisonous and must be taken seriously. The idea is to prevent Black's counterplay with b5-b4 and any Bb4 or even Nb4 moves. At this point, Khalifman suggests 7...b5, planning ...Bb7 on the next move. Again, Black has enough counterplay.
The following three chapters deal with the position arising after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2 Nf6 7.0-0 a6
Of course, the author covers all White's deviations on the way to this position. In the position on the diagram, White's main move is by far 8.Be3. All the deviations from this continuation are covered in Chapter 7.
The next two chapters deal with the position arising after 8.Be3 Be7 9.f4 d6
This position can arise from the Najdorf and the Scheveningen, so it's an important theoretical position. Chapter 8 covers all White's deviations from the move 10.Qe1. This aggressive and dangerous continuation is dealt with in Chapter 9. According to the analysis, Black has enough counterplay in all the lines.
Chapter 10 features 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.g3
This is the third most popular option for White. Solid, positional, and easy to learn for White, this line lacks aggression. Our setup against this system will be based on 6...a6 followed by ...Nf6. It's quite characteristic that Black delays the advance ...d7-d6. Very often, after provoking Qxd4 by means of ...Nxd4, Black followed by ...Bc5. Analysis shows that Black has an excellent counterplay in all the lines.
In Chapter 11, Khalifman examines 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.f4
This is an aggressive move with the idea to meet Nf6 with e4-e5. The drawback of this move is that White can't castle short easily since it may run into Bc5, and long castling has other drawbacks which will be seen later. The e4-pawn has also been weakened since f2-f3 isn't possible anymore, and Black will aim to play Nf6 when e4-e5 won't be dangerous.
Once again, 6...a6 followed by ...b7-b5 on the next move is a good antidote. Chapter 11 deals with all the alternatives to 7.Nxc6.
Chapter 12 is dedicated to the position arising after 7.Nxc6 Qxc6
Black wants to continue with b7-b5, Bb7, and then develop the knight to f6 at an appropriate moment. It's good to keep in mind that the knight can also be developed to e7 in some lines, and also that Black can make use of the c-file at some point.
Chapter 13 gets back to the position that occurs after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7
Over time, many different moves were played for White and since it's impossible to analyze everything, in this chapter, the sidelines which require some knowledge from Black will be analyzed.
Chapter 14 examines White's sidelines in the position after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6
White has tried many different moves over time and has at least two different sidelines that deserve serious attention - 5.c4 and 5.Bf4. When dealing with the sidelines, if White doesn't play Nc3, in general, Black intends to continue with Nf6 and then either d7-d5 or Bb4 which would give Black good chances for the battle in the center.
The final Chapter 15 is dedicated to the line 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 Nf6 7.N1c3 a6 8.Na3
The knight from g1 spent four moves to be on the a3-square, although the upside is that now b7-b5 is extremely difficult to achieve. The drawback can be seen in the following lines where Black can often play d6-d5 because the knight doesn't contribute in the battle for the center. Khalifman proves that Black has an excellent counterplay in this version of the Hedgehog.
SAMPLE CHAPTER
SAMPLE VIDEO