The f4 Sicilian

Minimum: Dual Core, 2 GB RAM, Windows 7 or 8.1, DirectX11, graphics card with 256 MB RAM, DVD-ROM drive, Windows Media Player 9, ChessBase 14/Fritz 16 or included Reader and internet access for program activation. Recommended: PC Intel i5 (Quadcore), 4 GB RAM, Windows 10, DirectX11, graphics card with 512 MB RAM or more, 100% DirectX10-compatible sound card, Windows Media Player 11, DVD-ROM drive and internet access for program activation.

Najdorf Variation

It is astonishing that today’s most important system in the Sicilian starts with the unlikely move 5...a6. The move by the rook’s pawn does nothing for the development of the pieces, so why then does Black play it? Well, it is almost also useful to prevent White’s minor pieces from getting on the b5-square, and in addition it prepares a counter-attack on the queenside with …b7-b5. In certain circumstances there is the threat of ...b4 driving away the Nc3, which puts the e4-pawn under pressure e4. Seen like this, 5...a6 is a preparation for the attack on the white centre! The great rise of the Najdorf Variation – named after the Polish-Argentinian grandmaster Miguel Najdorf (1910–1997) – began in the 1950s. World champions Petrosian, Tal and Fischer played this opening, and Kasparov too was feared because of his precise treatment of the sharp Najdorf lines.