Modernized: The Open Sicilian - Zhanibek Amanov & Kostya Kavutskiy Unknown Binding

This is too confusing you keep losing track it keeps going of into other possibiltes but they have used the same font you just go back and forth again and again turning pages until in the end you give up , it could have been a good book for a simple little thing like using a different font for branch moves , you waste time and end up having to circle around moves to try and organize it all, something the publishers should have done , Another book I will never end up reading fully because its too much hard work.

A practical repertoire book for the ambitious player.I think the authors did an excellent job in creating a repertoire which is both amitious and relatively easy to work on. One should not be deceived though, fighting the sicilian is never an easy job and if playing on a certain level, there is work required.In the end the authors found a great solution in my opinion. They are sidestepping the "feared" variations that have been heavily analyzed by the strongest players, but the repertoire is still ambitious and they also provide coverage of the 0-0-0 line against the Dragon for instance, because it's simply the best line and should therefore be played..Here some thoughts and opinions by myself (elo 2100-2200 regarding the content:- against the Najdorf the h3 line is very modern and strong but for my taste too heavily analyzed at the moment, so I don't play it myself.- g3 lines against the e6 systems, IMO extremely good analysis and a great practical weapon. I use it myself with huge success.- against the Classical Sicilian the Bc4 lines are interesting and possibly just as good as the "feared" Rauzer starting with Bg5.- the Dragon is being fought with the sharpest of methods, one of the 0-0-0 lines. But the rare move Qe1 is again a very practical and poisonous line, playing ambitiously but sidstepping the major paths. As a Dragon player myself I do believe that black should be all right in this line, but it is very tricky and many players will lose track quickly.- against the Scheveningen the Keres is the choice...no further need of explanations..- against the Sveshnikov they recommend a positional line that gives black the chance for a nearly equal game, but white is always for choice and is in many lines playing for 2 results which is very appealing I think and takes the sting out of the system by avoiding many chaotic Sveshnikov/Kalashnikov positions.- the Accelerated Dragon is a poisonous line for the unprepared. Here again I agree with the authors to just go for the Maroczy. It is a unique and famous structure in all of chess and appears in many different versions. So everybody should have a certain grasp of how to play these positions. And white should once again be for choice in almost all lines..Overall a great work, unique in its type and will be the Sicilian bible for many club players in the coming years. I can't speak for the professionals..Let me say one last thing. The book has 1 big advantage over other comparable works like the Gawain Jones book on a Sicilian repertoire. Jones' book is very good by the way, but since he uses solid sidelines like Bb5 and KIA against 1...c5, he gives black the choice to also play extremely solid lines with little risk. By using the lines recommended in "Modernized the...." you force your opponent to play extremely accurately otherwise you just smash him off the board. So there is also a big advantage for white that there is so much theorie attached to the Open Sicilian. If you channel the game into your known theorie, could also be a sideline, your opponent can never afford 1 misstep.Highly recommended!!

Modernized Open Sicilian by IM Zhanibek Amanov and FM Kostya Kavutskiy provides a complete repertoire against the Sicilian defense. The book is in the same vein as John Nunn’s Beating the Sicilian series, Experts versus the Sicilian by Aagaard and Shaw and Dismantling the Sicilian by Jesus de la Villa.The book is hefty with 564 pages. It is a brick but yet it feels comfortable in the hands and comfortable to read from. This feeling is similar to what people say about the IPhone it just feels comfortable. Forty-three complete games are covered and hundreds of other games are cited through variations. Most of the games are between grandmasters from the new millennium with a few games as recent as 2014. All of the games are very instructive and illustrate what the authors are trying to convey.The authors provide a summary at the end of each chapter and include exercises and memory markers that reinforce learning. In some cases the authors provide novelties and their own “TNT” for positions. The repertoire provided is not transferable like the English Attack advocated by de la Villa in Dismantling the Sicilian but a repertoire that must be learned separately. This of course requires more work but it is work well rewarded. I like the fact that the repertoire is aggressive and even the g3 variations for the Kan and Taimanov is an all-out approach of “kill or be killed.”Against the main variations of the Sicilian the authors recommend 6.h3 against the Najdorf, 9.0-0-0 against the Dragon, the Maroczy bind against the Accelerated Dragon, the Fischer/Sozin attack against the Classical Sicilian, g3 against the Kan and the Taimanov, and occupying the d5 square with the knight against the Sveshnikov. Minor lines in the Sicilian like the Four Knights Variation and the O’Kelly variation are also covered.Modernized Open Sicilian is definitely recommended for club and tournament players and the more I go through the book the more I feel intermediate players would also benefit. The authors really follow through on getting the reader to playable middle game positions and providing material on understanding the Sicilian defense. It requires some work but it is work well rewarded. For example, I play 6.Bg5 against the Najdorf. I feel with the authors guidance and examples I could switch to 6.h3 against the Najdorf if that time should come, for now, I love playing those poison pawn positions too much. To help with the learning effort I suggest the teacher or student download or create the main games into a pgn format to help navigate through the many variations and transpositions and reference the end of the chapter exercises and memory markers.Theory is constantly evolving and changing in our information age and you may need to make certain tweaks and/or updates on certain lines that were recommended in the book, however the goals, strategies, and positional understanding the authors teach will never go out of fashion. Buy this book if you play the open Sicilian and if you play the Sicilian as black.

This is the Bible of the Sicilian defense! Great book, highly recommend. Thank you amazon!

This is a repertoire book for the White player wanting to play the open Sicilian, and thus it covers every main line (Najdorf, Dragon, etc), with a theoretically current, indisputably solid, grandmaster level line. For example, the Yugoslav Attack is given as the response to the Dragon, it is covered in extreme depth, and that's it. You're not going to find obscure side lines aimed at those intending to avoid theory. This book is for those looking to grab theory by the horns - in some of the most theoretical lines in all of chess.My Sicilian opening theory is not very deep, so this worked for me. I already play the Yugoslav against the Dragon, so no problem there. But I previously played English Attack against Najdorf, so it took a lot of prep to switch to the Adams Attack, which is what the book recommends. I'm glad I did - I like the Adams better, and now recognize the glaring differences between Yugoslav and English, without that black pawn on g6.So for someone who's already an advanced player, this book might not be suitable, since large sections might not apply to you. For the beginner, the theory is too deep, and positional concepts are likely too sophisticated. I would recommend this to a 1600+ player who hasn't studied the Sicilian very much, and wants to get a fresh start - with the goal of spending a few months developing a bombproof repertoire.

I highly recommend this book. It is the best book on the open Sicilian from whites point of view that I have read and I have all the other popular books. The only book that comes close is Dismantling The Sicilian by Villa. Which is also a very good book on the subject. The book is well organised with exercises at the end of each chapter. It also has Memory Markers at the end of each chapter. We all know how difficult it is to remember position. This book seems to understand what the amatur player needs. Book is full of good ideas and is fun to play through the games. Lastly, the physical book is very well constructed. The pages and print are large and there are diagrams on every page. I am rated a little higher than 2000 and had no trouble following the lines in the book.Always remember chess is about having fun.