17% of all games between grandmasters begin with the Sicilian. The Sicilian Defence was analysed by Giulio Polerio in his 1594 manuscript on chess, though he did not use the term ‘Sicilian Defence’ It was later the subject of analyses by Alessandro Salvio, Don Pietro Carrera and Gioachino Greco.
About Sicilian Defence in brief
The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White’s first move 1. e4. 17% of all games between grandmasters, and 25% of the games in the Chess Informant database, begin with the Sicilian. The Sicilian Defence was analysed by Giulio Polerio in his 1594 manuscript on chess, though he did not use the term ‘Sicilian Defence’ It was later the subject of analyses by leading players of the day Alessandro Salvio, Don Pietro Carrera and Gioachino Greco. In 1813, English master Jacob Henry Sarratt effectively standardised his translation of the name as ‘the Sicilian’, referring to an old Italian manuscript that used the phrase il gioco siciliano. In the ninth edition of the English edition, Louis Staunton, Adolf Anderssen, Paul Staunsen, and Carl Jaenisch all played it with some consistency with some variations of the opening. The opening was fairly popular for much of the nineteenth century. It was also popular for some time in the early 20th century, but has since fallen out of favour. The move resembles 1…e5, the next most common response to 1.e4, in that respect. Unlike 1… e5, however, 1.. c5 breaks the symmetry of the position, which strongly influences both players’ future actions. White, having pushed a kingside pawn, tends to hold the initiative on that side of the board. Black often obtains a substantial lead in development and dangerous attacking chances.
Meanwhile, advancing a queenside pawn has given Black a spatial advantage there and provides a basis for future operations on that flank. The pawn trade also opens the c-file for Black, who can place a rook or queen on that file to support the queenside counterplay. Black has to take care not to fall victim to a quick attack. In many variations, Black makes a number of further pawn moves in the opening. Consequently, White often obtain a substantiallead in development. Black’s c5-pawn is traded for White’s d4- pawn in early stages of the game, granting Black a central pawn majority. Black can also use the pawn trade to gain an early advantage in the game. White has to make use of his opportunity to do something before Black has an equal number of opportunities of his own. The first point of contact usually comes in the form of a pawn exchange, which leads to the opening of a position. The earliest recorded notes on the Sicilian Defence date back to the late 16th century by the Italian chess players GiulioPolerio and GIOachinoGreco. And Danican Philidor opined of the Sicillian in 1777, ‘This way of opening game is absolutely defensive from being the best… but it is very good to try the strength of an adversary with whose skill you are unacquainted’
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This page is based on the article Sicilian Defence published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 31, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
