Openings / c3 Sicilian
the misplaced queen and sheltering the key d7-square.
14. Qg4 Rd8 15. Bg5
Renews Bxg7 by protecting h3 and also attacks b7. 14. Bxg7? Rg8 15. Qxd6 (15. Ba4+ Nxa4
16. Qxa4+ Qc6) 15. ... Bxd6 16. Bd4 It seems that White escapes with the inter - me diate move. However, Black has a counter-threat: 16. ... Bh3 17. Bxb6 Rxg2+ 18. Kh1 Rxh2+ 19. Kg1 Not only does Black have at least a perpetual, but he has tremendous winning chances after 19. ... Ke7 opening the way for the second rook.
15. ... Qg6 Black is holding on by a thread. 16. Bd3 The moves play themselves.
16. ... Qe6 17. Bf5 Qxa2 18. Bxd8 g6 19. Bb1, Black resigned. Forcing resignation because Black is
already down a rook and is about to lose the d6-bishop. You wouldn’t expect an expert player to fall so quickly in the opening.
HYBRID LINES DELAYING ... d5
Sicilian Defense, 2. c3 Variation (B22) FM Alisa Melekhina (2283) Lawrence Wolfley (2137)
National Open Championship (2), Las Vegas, Nevada, 06.07.2013
1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bc4 Nb6 6. Bb3 d5
I prefer to exchange the pawn while damaging Black’s pawn structure. 9. ... dxe6 10. Nxg5 Qe5 11. d4 Qxe2+?! 12. Kxe2 e5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nxh7 Bg7 15. Ng5 Bg4+ 16. f3 Bd7 17. Na3 Rh5 18. h4 0–0–0?! 19. g4 Rhh8 20. Bf4!? led to a major advantage against IM Vladimir Romanenko in the 2011 Philadelphia Inter - national that later resulted in a draw after great resistance by Black.
7. exd6 e.p. Qxd6 8. Na3 The main move is 8. 0-0, but 8. Na3 pre -
sents more problems for Black’s awk - ward ly-placed queen. Black can’t continue with the main move 8. ... Be6.
8. ... a6 As in the game against Hill, Black senses
danger and seeks to eliminate the uncom - fortable Nb5 threats. The reaction is un - der standable, but loses a tempo. After 8. ... Be6 9. d4 cxd4 10. Nb5 Qd7
11. Bxe6 Qxe6+ 12. Be3 White’s pieces are op timally placed in the center while Black has to retreat to develop.
9. 0-0 Bf5 10. d4 e6 11. Be3 Remember that the c3 Sicilian is charac-
terized by simple, developing moves. Here, that’s enough to put the pressure on Black.
11. ... cxd4 12. Nxd4 Nxd4 13. Bxd4 Already, the two bishops dominate and
are preemptively aimed against Black’s kingside.
13. ... Be7 A multi-purpose move protecting g2 in
case Black follows through with his plan of Be4 and Qg5. More importantly, it attacks d5 twice, indirectly attacking e7.
17. ... Bd6?
17. ... Nxe3 18. Bxe3 Qh4 Black has to grit his teeth and play down a pawn.
18. g3 Qf3 19. Bd1 Qe4 20. Bc2 Qf3 21. Bxf5, Black resigned.
Black resigned before being forced to lose a piece and exchange queens. No joke: the c3 Sicilian is that sweet
The more popular continuation is 6. ...
c4, indirectly stopping White from playing d2-d4 and supporting the e5-pawn. How - ever, White has nothing to worry about here; Black’s knights are stepping on each other and it is relatively easy to defend e5. 7. Bc2 Qc7 8. Qe2 g5 a surprise for the unwary. However, White has several ways to counter Black’s ambitious play. 9. e6.
and simple! Enjoy a massive center in the 2. ... Nf6 lines and surmount your oppo - nent’s development in the 2. ... d5 lines. Throughout law school, I didn’t have time to focus on keeping up-to-date with theory. The c3 Sicilian has served me extraordi- narily well over the past few years against players of all strengths. I hope you have been inspired to look at Anti-Sicilians in a new light and give it a try.
Setting a trap. 14. Qf3
See more from FM Melekhina on the Sicilian here:
www.onlinechesslessons.net/2013/06/ 18/fm-alisa-melekhina-win-sicilian-21-moves/ #.U5iiqfldW0c
www.uschess.org 43
14. ... 0-0 Black has to choose which pawn to for -
feit. Castling queenside would have been a better try, but is understand ably uncom - fortable to play. The queenside is shaky for Black.
15. Qxb7 Nd5 It looks like White’s queen may get
trapped. Ironically, it is Black’s queen that is in trouble.
16. Nc4! Qf4 17. Ne3!
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