Talk:Sicilian Defence

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If this is "the most popular response to 1. e4 at the master level," can we not at least get as subtle and probing an analysis as, say, the French Defense?

This seems to be true, see [1] Andreas Kaufmann 20:00, 22 July 2005 (UTC)
That is a great article on the French. Not sure why the Sicilian article isn't up to that standard. The database link you gave is interesting, too. Of the sort-of-frequently played openings against 1.e4, 1...Nc6 does best, with White scoring only +2.1% over 742 games. (It would be interesting to see it broken down further -- after 2.Nf3! IMO the only fully acceptable move is 2...e5! but that reaches a double king-pawn opening (+10.8% for White).) Then there's 1...g5, scoring +4.7% for Black over just 64 games (maybe these games are largely IM Basman playing the opening against weaker players?). Krakatoa 21:24, 22 July 2005 (UTC)
I guess I was right about 1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 being "!" Chessgames' database shows White scoring +9.5% in 431 games with that move, and a horrific -5.3% in 266 games with 2.d4 (??). [2] Krakatoa 22:17, 22 July 2005 (UTC)
It is difficult to justify labelling 2.d4 in response to 1. e4 Nc6 as ?? purely on database statistics from a relatively small sample. Likewise labelling 2.Nf3 !. Compare to 1.e4 h5, scoring 100% for black in three games - should it be 1.e4 h5!! ? Of course not.
With regard to the sicilian, it is certainly the most popular response to 1.e4 (nearly 20,000 more games in the chessgames.com database than 1...e5), and probably the best-scoring of the main responses (though the Modern Defence, 1...g6 has a higher win % for black, it also has a higher win % for white). 1...Nc6 is classified as B00 (Uncommon KP Opening), so cannot be described as a main response. I am thus removing the 'citation needed' on both of the opening statements.WarmasterKron 19:21, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

With regard to I restructured this article to make it easier to expand. I'm afraid that I know little on the Sicilian. I cannot even play the Sicilian. I have tried playing it twice, both times the game continued 1.e4 c5 2.c3 e6 3.d4 d5 4.e5. So even when I try to play the Sicilian, I still wind up playing the French... Sjakkalle (Check!) 11:07, 17 October 2005 (UTC)

  • I would love to see a short history on why it is called the "Sicilian". I think it has something to do with the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and its origin may actually be Naples - but I'm not sure - someone wish to shed some light on that? Is there a chance at all that it dates back to Arab Sicily circa 10th century, thus representing perhaps one of the first times that the game of chess entered Europe? --pippudoz - (waarom? jus'b'coz!) 00:06, 31 October 2005 (UTC)
    • Apparently it was named by Gioacchino Greco so I have added that to the article. I have also seen jokes that it is called the "Sicilian" because Sicily is home of the mafia HQ, but that explanation sounds unlikely. Sjakkalle (Check!) 09:23, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] 2006

There is no where near enough disscusion on alternatives to the main line, these are the staple of many club players after all. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 211.31.115.58 (talk • contribs) 04:04, July 16, 2006 (UTC).


Actually, the dragon line in the sicilian is explored in quite detail in its own page. The Najdorf, not quite so mucb.

Can we mention about "1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nxc6", and "1.e4 c5 2.Bc4" lines as well ? (Aksuvari 08:22, 20 December 2006 (UTC))

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