Sicilian, Sozin, 7.Be3

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a8 b8 c8 d8 e8 f8 g8 h8
a7 b7 c7 d7 e7 f7 g7 h7
a6 b6 c6 d6 e6 f6 g6 h6
a5 b5 c5 d5 e5 f5 g5 h5
a4 b4 c4 d4 e4 f4 g4 h4
a3 b3 c3 d3 e3 f3 g3 h3
a2 b2 c2 d2 e2 f2 g2 h2
a1 b1 c1 d1 e1 f1 g1 h1
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Sicilian, Sozin, 7.Be3


In chess, B89 is the ECO code for the Sicilian, Sozin, 7.Be3 chess opening. The game begins 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Bc4 Nc6 7.Be3. The opening is named for the Russian Master, Veniamin Sozin, who experimented with the move 6.Bc4 in the 1930s. It was a countermeasure against the Dragon and Boleslavski Systems so it gained in popularity. White's primary strategy is to step up the pressure on the e6 pawn with f4 and f5 or exploit the weakness of Black's center pawns. Though Bobby Fischer has his own variation in the Sozin (B88), he's +2-3 in the B89. Dragoljub Velimirovic, Nick de Firmian and John Nunn all have fine scores in the 7.Be3 as White. The continuation, 7....Be7 8.Qe2 is known as the Velimirovic attack.