Sicilian Defence Winning Tactics

The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the moves:

1. e4 c5

The Sicilian is the most popular and best scoring response to White's first move 1.e4. 1.d4 is a statistically more successful opening for white due to the high success rate of the Sicilian defence against 1.e4.

2.Nf3 d6

Nf3 - Moving White's knight to f3 is an aggressive move for White. it controls one of the centre squares and prepares to play 3.d4.

d6 - This logical move prevents White from playing e5, gaining space and stopping Black's knight from coming to f6. However many players also consider 2... Nc6 or 2...e6 to look for tactics with the queen.

Scheveningen Variation
1.e4 c5
2.Nf3 e6
3.d4 cxd4
4.Nxd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 d6
6.Be2 Be7
7.0-0 Nc6
8.Be3 a6
9.f4 Qc7
10.Qe1 Bd7

Dragon Variation
1.e4 c5
2.Nf3 d6
3.d4 cxd4
4.Nxd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 g6
6.Be3 Bg7

Najdorf Variation
1.e4 c5
2.Nf3 d6
3.d4 cxd4
4.Nxd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 a6

Taimanov Variation
1.e4 c5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.d4 cxd4
4.Nxd4 e6
5.Nc3 a6
6.Be3 Qc7
7.a3 b5
8.Be2 Bb7