Om Prakash Trends In Sicilian

Not only professional titled players and coaches, but also club players are nowadays well updated on opening theory and have good understanding of how to use technology. They can even develop their own ideas in an opening. But the question you have to ask yourself is what exactly is it that you want from your studies – to win a game or to find the ultimate truth behind one opening? In my opinion, a competitive mind should focus on winning the game, and, of course, more the games the better.

Therefore, from a practical point of view, long preparations and hours of analysis are hardly useful for the tournament player. It takes too much time and energy. The more time you spend on studying openings, the less time you have to work on other areas of the game. However, it is up to each player to choose their method and work according to their time.

Sidelines and unusual moves have that surprise effect that can take your opponent quickly into an uncomfortable position and lead him to make mistakes or use too much of his time. The feeling of insecurity walking on unknown land will make your opponent wonder and doubt. In this article I am going to discuss a recent idea that has been working out very nicely for white. Believe it or not, the latest opening trend begins after:

1.e4 c5 2.Be2!?

It is not the first time white tries to shock the "Sicilian Mafioso" with an extravagant 2^nd move. Not so long ago Zviaginsev played 2.Na3 against Khalifman, who could not avoid laughing at the board when he saw that move.

However, the laugh did not last as Zviaginsev went on to win the game convincingly and 2.Na3 became fashionable and played by very strong Grandmasters like Malakhov. Another extravagant move is 2.a3!? employed by Mamedyarov, although it has never caught on that much.

The idea of 2.Be2!?, basically, is to be able to recapture on d1 with the bishop in case black executes the rupture d5 and dxe4. So what white wants is:

• Play f4, controlling the center
• Play Nf3 and d3
• Castle
• Then Qe1-h4 and start an attack on the kingside

Also worth noticing is that in the event that black could play his knight to d4 once the white queen has gone to e1 (attacking e2 and c2), white can just answer with Bd1. This idea is borrowed from some systems in the Dutch Defense and has not been played much at GM level until recently, when GM Igor Kovalenko employed it twice (successfully) in the Najdorf Memorial.

We have to say that this idea had been played before by McShane, who won a massive game against Cheparinov in 2009. In that game white started with 2.d3 then 3.f4, 4.Nf3, 5.Be2 and so on.

I also tried this line after looking at this move while surfing the internet chess databases. Although both games were against tough opponenets and ended in draw it was fun trying.