Is it just me or is this an overrated defense? I have never seen anyone use it well. I've always found matching king's pawn or queen's pawn to be much more effective. I can't for the life of me
understand why anyone would use Sicilian defense. I'm sure some great chess players can use it extremely well, but I can't.
Hello:
There are lots of defences against 1.- e4 and maybe Sicilian do not fit in your style! I have a boring style and I used to play 1.- ..., e5 against P-K4 until I proved some defences. The one that I
play now in all my games is the Caro-Kann (e4, c6; ...) which fits better in my style than other one.
There are lots of defences. Here are only a few:
e4, e5; Nf3, Nc6: this is the classical way. There are tons of openings/deences starting like this. If you know opening theory in checkers: e4, e5; Nf3, Nc6 is almost popular in chess as Old Faithful
(11-15, 23-19; 8-11, 22-17; 4-8, ...) and Single Corner (11-15, 22-18; 15x22, 25x18; ...) in checkers (also called English draughts).
e4, e5; Nf3, Nf6 (Petroff or Petrov defence): it has fame of drawish in high level play; maybe leads to a premature endgame.
e4, e6; d4, d5 (French defence): it has fame of solid, is more less easy of playing (like a system) but there are lots of cramped positions. Depends on what you like...
e4, d6 (Pirc defence): a very closed defence (like many others with 1.- d4, d5; ... or 1.- d4, Nf6; ...). If you like closed defences (like French), Pirc is a good alternative, although IMO French is
more reliable than Pirc. Black usually castles kingside (..., O-O), as in Alekhine defence.
e4, d5 (Scandinavian defence): a very direct defence. Black usually castles queenside (... , O-O-O) and this defence leads to imbalances (too risky for me). If you like risk, look at his defence.
e4, c5 (Sicilian defence): the most studied defence against P-K4. It is common that black c-pawn and d-white pawn are exchanged in the third/fourth move. There are tons of mainlines, so studying
Sicilian for a beginner is a hard way. There are also many sorts of lines: risky, quiet, ...
e4, c6; d4, d5 (Caro-Kann defence): my favourite. Is very solid, no risks... if well played (of course!). Very balanced positions, so it is quiet (although if you want, you can play/invent risky
variations, as in other defences). It is said that Caro-Kann leads to an earlier endgame with good pawn structure for black.
e4, Nf6; e5, Nd5 (Alekhine defence): very manoeuvring and very difficult to play. I do not recommend you this defence because the player who plays Alekhine defence must have very deep knowledge of
chess. It searchs a premature advance of white central pawns that will be easier to target in black field. Black usually castles kingside (..., O-O) with 'Fianchetto' (..., g6; ..., Bg7), as in Pirc
defence.
Other defences are not reliable or simply they are worse than these I have explained. Hope it will be useful for everyone that is looking for his/her style.
Regards from Spain.
Ajedrecista (yes, I forgot to log in for posting).
I forgot to say in Pirc defence:
Black usually castles kingside (..., O-O) WITH 'FIANCHETTO' (..., g6; ..., Bg7), as in Alekhine defence.