When you play the Sicilian Defense, you must be prepared to face the Alapin variation starting with 2.c3.
This is White’s 3rd most popular move in the Sicilian, behind 2.Nf3 and 2.Nc3, played by those who want to avoid mainline theory and still get good chances to cause problems for Black.
After 2.c3, a natural Sicilian move like 2…Nc6 or 2…d6 gives White a strong center and a better game after 3.d4. So Black has to be careful in the opening.
In this video course, we offer the move 2…Nf6!, which is played by many super GMs like Caruana, Grischuk and Giri. Black develops a piece and immediately provokes a fight in the center...
And as you’ll discover from this course, Black doesn’t just equalize here but also gets a very comfortable position out of the opening.
You’ll also see how Black can create practical chances to outplay White even in the solid lines of the Alapin variation.
On top of that, the lines are easy to remember and they’ll also automatically prepare you against the dangerous Smith-Morra Gambit with 1.e4 c5 2.d4. You’ll see how to sidestep this gambit and transpose back to the known Alapin territory.
This means you won’t have to spend any time preparing the Smith-Morra Gambit separately (which is White’s 4th most popular response to the Sicilian after 2.Nf3, 2.Nc3, 2.c3 ?)!
So are you ready?
Let’s begin!
What you'll learn
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Ideas, downsides and the opening strategy of the Sicilian Alapin variation.
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A move-by-move repertoire to fight against the Alapin, Delayed Alapin variation and other minor lines.
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How Black creates practical chances to fight for a win even against White’s most solid lines.
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How to sidestep the dangerous Smith-Morra Gambit(1.e4 c5 2.d4) by transposing back to the known Alapin territory.
Lesson Plan 65 episode(s)
Students give this course an average of 5 out of 5 stars.