Closed Sicilian

Sicilian Defense

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3

White avoids d4 in favor of a quieter game, often focusing on kingside pawn advances.

Fun fact: Boris Spassky's crushing wins with the Closed Sicilian against Efim Geller in their 1968 Candidates match are still studied by players of this line. Source

Practice this line

The idea

Instead of opening the center with d4, White plays 2.Nc3 and 3.g3, fianchettoing the bishop and keeping the center closed. The game is slower and less theoretical than the Open Sicilian, and White plans to attack on the kingside.

Plans for White

After Bg2 and d3, there are two classic plans. Boris Spassky's was aggressive: an early f4 and Nf3, with a pawn storm on the kingside. Vasily Smyslov's was more careful: Be3 and Qd2 to trade the dark-squared bishops, then Nge2.

Plans for Black

Black usually mirrors with ...g6 and ...Bg7, then ...d6 and ...e6 or ...e5. Black's play is on the queenside: ...Rb8, ...b5 and ...b4, kicking the knight on c3.

Watch out for

For Black, ignoring the kingside. White's f4-f5 and the plan of trading the bishop on g7 can lead to a strong attack if Black only plays on the queenside.

For White, being too slow. If Black's ...b5-b4 arrives before White's attack, the knight on c3 is kicked and Black's pieces flood the queenside.

History

The Closed Sicilian has been played by Vasily Smyslov, Boris Spassky, Michael Adams and Nigel Short, with occasional outings by Emanuel Lasker and Anatoly Karpov.