Sicilian Sveshnikov: free opening course

Key ideas

• The push ...e5 kicks the d4 knight before White is ready. Answer 6.Ndb5 with ...d6 at once to cover the d6 square.
• The d5 square is White's outpost. Black lives with it and plays for ...b5, ...f5 and active bishops.
• After Bxf6 gxf6 the doubled pawns are a strength. They control e5 and f5, and the ...f5 break opens lines.
• Trade your light-squared bishop for the knight on d5 when it gets too strong. Then the d5 pawn blocks White's own pieces.
• Against the quiet knight retreats, develop the f8 bishop to b4 or c5 with tempo and strike in the centre with ...d5.

The 6 variations in the course

• 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5: main line: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 … — White pins the knight and then breaks up Black's pawns with Bxf6. Black takes with the g-pawn and hits back at once with ...f5. Then Black trades the light-squared bishop for the d5 knight and gains space with ...e4.
• 9.Nd5 Be7: Chelyabinsk main line: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 … — White puts the knight on d5 before taking on f6. Black takes back with the bishop, castles and puts the bishop on g5. After the a-pawns are traded, Black prepares the f5 break with ...Kh8.
• 7.Nd5: White jumps in early: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 … — White plays 7.Nd5 before Bg5. Black trades knights at once and drops the c6 knight back to b8. White gets space with c4, and Black plays on the kingside with ...f5.
• 6.Nb3 and 6.Nf3: the quiet retreats: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Nb3 Bb4 … — White pulls the knight back instead of going to b5. Black pins the c3 knight with ...Bb4 and breaks with ...d5 at once. After the trades Black has the better pawns. Watch out for the mate on h7.
• 6.Nxc6 bxc6: the exchange: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Nxc6 bxc6 … — White trades knights at once. Black takes toward the centre with ...bxc6 and pins the c3 knight with ...Bb4. Black castles, wins the bishop pair and uses the half-open b-file.
• 6.Nf5 d5: the forward knight: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Nf5 d5 … — White sends the knight to f5 instead of back. Black hits the centre at once with ...d5. After the trades on f5 and c6 Black develops fast and gains space with ...e4. Many White players go wrong on move seven.

Traps you will learn (3)

• 7.Nd5 a6?? 8.Nbc7+: the knight fork — After 7.Nd5 the push ...a6 looks like the usual way to kick the b5 knight. But the knight jumps to c7 with check and forks the king and the a8 rook. Black must take on d5 first.
• 6.Nf5 d5 7.Bg5? d4: two loose knights — Against 6.Nf5 the pin 7.Bg5 looks natural. But 7...d4 kicks the c3 knight, and the f5 knight has no support. Black wins a piece.
• 6.Nb3 line: 11.Qh5 O-O?? 12.Qxh7# — In the 6.Nb3 line White's queen and bishop aim at h7. If Black castles too soon, the queen takes on h7 with mate. Block the queen with ...g6 first.

How the opening courses work

Each course teaches an opening in a few main variations. For every move you read why it is played, which other moves are good, and which tempting moves are mistakes and why. Each course also shows the traps of the opening: the ones you can set and the ones to avoid.

After a lesson you play the moves yourself in a drill. The lines you learn go into your review, which brings them back when you are about to forget them (spaced repetition). 30 line courses add many short lines per opening, a few new ones a day, and every named opening, more than 3,800 lines, has a lesson of its own.