As a black as a defense in the high competitors
@sm2019 said in #1:
> As a black as a defense in the high competitors
Yes it's the most played opening wether it's an international chess tournament , national tournament , state tournament , foreign tournament , club tournament , or when you are practicing with your chess coach also .
> As a black as a defense in the high competitors
Yes it's the most played opening wether it's an international chess tournament , national tournament , state tournament , foreign tournament , club tournament , or when you are practicing with your chess coach also .
I think it should be the most played defense. There are some old players who are so sophisticated to draw every game, even if they play top grandmasters. But sicilian defense makes the difference, because it creates imbalances, so the stronger player will win. My quote is: 'One sicilian a day, keeps the draws away'.
in lichess DB by far the most played, but something must be broken shows me much higher winrate for black no matter what i select basically, so im a bit suspicious.
lots of ruy lopez (berlin defence) too i heard somebody say, and french defence too.
lots of ruy lopez (berlin defence) too i heard somebody say, and french defence too.
To win as Black most likely.
"... Now jump ahead sixty years to 2020. ... the sea change has been that against 1.e4 the old reply 1...e5 has now replaced the Sicilian as the top choice in elite tournaments. There are multiple reasons for this. Perhaps the main one is that the Berlin Defense to the Spanish (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6), which was considered a dubious sideline in Fischer’s day, is now considered to be very close to equal. Also the Marshall Gambit in the Spanish is now considered to be close to a draw, and good counters have been found to the various ways by which White used to avoid the Marshall. ... On the other side of the coin, it is now generally agreed that White gets a real advantage against all Sicilians other than the Najdorf and Sveshnikov, and that even with the Najdorf Black needs to know a huge amount to get a decent middlegame against many dangerous white tries. Moreover, against both the Najdorf and the Sveshnikov, the reply 3.Bb5 is a reasonably promising try for a small edge. To put it simply, general arguments in favor of the Sicilian have given way to concrete analytical reasons for preferring the traditional reply 1...e5. ..." - GM Kaufman (2021)
www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9092.pdf
www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9092.pdf
@kindaspongey said in #6:
> "Also the Marshall Gambit in the Spanish is now considered to be close to a draw, and good counters have been found to the various ways by which White used to avoid the Marshall. ... On the other side of the coin, it is now generally agreed that White gets a real advantage against all Sicilians other than the Najdorf and Sveshnikov, and that even with the Najdorf Black needs to know a huge amount to get a decent middlegame against many dangerous white tries."
The other downside with the Sicilian defence from Black's point of view is that if White is determined, several sharp lines can be used to force a draw for White while in open games, that is not really possible. Also in the Giuocco Piano, there is more room for middlegame creativity because there are more pieces on the board and the theory hasn't been exhausted, as in the Ruy Lopez, where 30 move lines are quite common.
> "Also the Marshall Gambit in the Spanish is now considered to be close to a draw, and good counters have been found to the various ways by which White used to avoid the Marshall. ... On the other side of the coin, it is now generally agreed that White gets a real advantage against all Sicilians other than the Najdorf and Sveshnikov, and that even with the Najdorf Black needs to know a huge amount to get a decent middlegame against many dangerous white tries."
The other downside with the Sicilian defence from Black's point of view is that if White is determined, several sharp lines can be used to force a draw for White while in open games, that is not really possible. Also in the Giuocco Piano, there is more room for middlegame creativity because there are more pieces on the board and the theory hasn't been exhausted, as in the Ruy Lopez, where 30 move lines are quite common.
According to lichess.org/analysis#explorer, it is the most popular against 1.e4 by 300k games.
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