What exactly is the Sicilian defense in Chess?
The Sicilian Defense has the reputation of being black’s most ggressive response to 1.e4. With 1…c5, black immediately discourages white from playing 2.d4 because black would be able to capture the pawn. In response, white would be reluctant to recapture with the queen because the queen would be extremely vulnerable in the center of the board. In order to pursue the center, white must instead prepare d2-d4 with 2.Nf3. When white continues with d4, black will capture and white will be able to recapture with the Nf3 rather than the queen. Black can pursue many different strategies in the Sicilian, but nearly all have one thing in common. Black will usually try to take advantage of the open c-file by placing one or more rooks and sometimes the queen there. Very often, therefore, black will castle on the kingside and pursue an attack on the queenside. By contrast, in part because the black king is on the kingside, white will attack there. Learn how to play the famous Sicilian defense in
“Sicilian Defense- The Sicilian is the most aggressive way to meet 1.e4, and entails responding by pushing the black c-pawn two squares. It is also the most popular defense against 1.e4 outpacing the classical favorite 1…e5 in recent decades. … Many players are afraid of the Sicilian because of the large body of theory thought necessary to play it well.” (United States Chess Federation:
