The Sicilian Defense is often a thorn in the side for 1.e4 players, with many tactical games arising from it. Elite players know this, and use it to play for a win with Black.
Stomp the Sicilian: The Maroczy Bind by Vjekosav Nemec aka Chessentials illustrates how the Maroczy Bind pawn structure (pawns on e4 and c4) is a great practical choice against any Sicilian setup, often denying Black the tactical battle they’re hoping for. It’s a unique Maroczy course, exploring some second moves by Black that no other Chessable course has covered thus far.
The course not only shows how the Maroczy Bind can be quite frustrating for Sicilian players, but also how it is a common and useful pawn structure that may arise out of other openings (for example, in 1.d4 openings in King’s Indian setups), thus giving you a flexible and dynamic repertoire.
The positional pressure placed on the Black pieces will prove too much to handle, leading to Black frustratingly misplacing their pieces, which you can tactically punish. That’s because you deprive Black of the most appealing squares for their pieces.
Get your copy of Stomp the Sicilian: The Maroczy Bind today
In this course, the goal will be to obtain the Maroczy whenever possible, with the following ideas:
♟ After 2…d6 you’ll play the Prins Variation (3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.f3!?), protecting the e-pawn and preparing a c-pawn push
♟ The O’Kelly (2…a6) and the Accelerated Dragon (2…g6) will be met with the thematic 3.c4, one of the main theoretical moves against both setups
♟ The move 2…e6 is also met with the relatively fresh Kramnik Sicilian, arising after 3.c4
♟ 2…Nc6, preventing the Maroczy, is also covered, together with some other rare 2nd moves (2…Nf6, 2…Qa5, 2…b6 and others), providing you, thus, with a full anti-Sicilian repertoire
The power of Chessable MoveTrainer when it comes to memorizing opening variations is well known.
However, in this course, CM Vjekoslav Nemec has gone a step further and provided you with additional material aimed at developing your understanding and highlighting key ideas, themes, and motifs hiding behind deep opening lines:
♟ A special chapter on typical pawn structures and typical middlegame plans associated with each of these structures
♟ An overview chapter before every theoretical section, highlighting the author’s choices and most important lines
♟ 25 master-level games and 11 games by the author himself, presented in the form of a mini-strategy course, with separate puzzles highlighting key moves of each and every individual game
♟ An additional It’s Your Move chapter, featuring 50 tactical puzzles from the author’s online games, allowing you to exercise your tactical vision and foster your pattern recognition even further
More about Vjekosav Nemec
Vjekoslav may not be an International Master nor a Grandmaster… but don’t sleep on him because, on a good day, he’s capable of demolishing players much higher rated than him. (He came THIS close to beating a 2700-plus grandmaster and 7-time Russian Champion in a publicized online match.)
But what’s even more impressive is that, he made these impressive strides in chess while working as a Chessable publishing manager… answering chess-related questions on the internet… and blogging about the things he loves.
After a two-year stint working at Chessable, he is now a dedicated course publisher and trainer.
The young Vjekoslav played chess with his cousin, Vinko, and uncle, Hrvoje, whom he credits as the two people who kept his interest in the game alive. He didn’t play competitive chess until August 2012, just before his 20th birthday…
But Vjekoslav has been hooked since!
When he’s not playing chess, Vjekoslav enjoys playing table tennis, making bad puns, and following stand-up comedy. He also contributes regularly to the Q&A website, Quora, where he became a Top Writer for 2018.
It’s this well-roundedness that made Vjekoslav such an effective author. Check out his course today, The Uncompromising Modern Defense and come out blazing against just about anything White can play!
