Not too long ago I reviewed Gawain Jones book, Starting Out:  Sicilian Grand Prix Attack.  In this review, we are going to take a look at another “non-mainline” book for White versus 1…c5: The c3 Sicilian.

I asked a friend of mine, Danny Berman, who is an Expert and plays the c3 Sicilian, why he likes it.  He said, “You can avoid a ton of preparation by Black.  However, you don’t really get a fast/big edge, but a positional one.”

This is along the same lines as what the author, IM Sam Collins, says in the book’s introduction.  I should note that on GM Sergey Tiviakov’s ChessBase DVD on the c3 Sicilian, he is a bit more optimistic about White’s advantage in this opening.  Indeed, the first game he shows on the DVD is his win with it over Kramnik!

So, after 1.e4 c5 2.c3 we get:

Here is a game of Tiviakov’s from the book (game 12) that ends with some nice tactics:

Tiviakov,Sergei (2678) - Parligras,Mircea (2571)
Solsona 2005

(The book gives the year as 2006, but this is incorrect according to Mega Database 2009)

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Bc4 e6 5.d4 cxd4 6.Bxd5 exd5 7.Qxd4 Nc6 8.Qxd5 d6 9.exd6 Bxd6 10.Bg5 Ne7 11.Qf3 0–0 12.Ne2 Qb6 13.b3 Qb5 14.Bxe7 Bxe7 15.Nd2 a5 16.0–0 Ra6 17.Nd4 Qd7 18.Rad1 Rg6 19.Rfe1 b6 20.Nc4 Rf6 21.Ne5 Qc7 22.Qg3 Bc5?? (diagram)

White to Move

23.Ng4! Rf4 24.Nf6+ 1–0

24…Kh8 25.Ne8!

A nice example of what can happen to Black if they underestimate the c3 Sicilian!
 

Although Collin’s doesn’t give any of his own games in the book, I did a search of my database and found several nice wins by the Irish IM using the c3 Sicilian.  Here is one:

Collins,Sam (2421) - Soderberg,Per (2195)
Gausdal Open, 2008

1.e4 c5 2.c3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bc4 Qc7 5.0–0 Nf6 6.d3 Be7 7.a4 0–0 8.Na3 a6 9.Bg5 d6 10.Nc2 Ne8 11.Bd2 Nf6 12.Ne3 Be6 13.Bd5 Rfe8 14.Ng5 Bf8 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.Ba2 Rad8 17.f4 exf4 18.Rxf4 Ne5 19.Be1 Ng6 20.Rf1 Qc6 21.Bg3 b5 22.axb5 axb5 23.Ng4 Nxg4 24.Qxg4 d5 25.Rae1 d4 26.cxd4 Rxd4 27.h4 c4 28.h5 Bc5 29.Kh1 Nf8 30.Be5 Rd7 31.dxc4 bxc4 32.Bxc4 Bb4 33.Rc1 Bd2 34.Rc2 Bh6 35.b3 Qb6 36.Rcf2 Rde7 37.Bf6 Rd7 (diagram)

White to Move

White already has a huge advantage, but Collin’s finishes with a flourish: 38.Bd4! Qb8 [38...Qxd4?? 39.Bxe6+ Nxe6 40.Qxe6+ Rxe6 (40...Kh8 41.Qxe8#) 41.Rf8#] 39.Rxf8+ Rxf8 40.Qxe6+ 1–0
 

 The Bottom Line

Pros:  The book contains 25 nicely annotated games.  Collins gives lots of verbal commentary throughout the games while still giving key variations where needed.  The pages are nice and large, with 2-3 diagrams per page.

Cons:  At only 111 pages, the book is far from comprehensive.  The sub-title says: “A new approach to understanding the chess openings,” yet as far as I know annotated games have been around for a while.  Seriously, I don’t see anything “new” about the book's format and those of you who have read my reviews before know how much I detest “back-cover hype.”

Lastly, I would not classify this as a beginner’s book, as Collins doesn’t tell you what to play.  Rather, he simply comments on the moves played in the games.  In other words, this is not a repertoire book but rather, as I already mentioned, a book of nicely annotated games.  Players around 1600-2100 should get the most out of this book.

On a scale of 1-10, Chess Explained: The c3 Sicilian by Sam Collins gets an 8.
 

From the Publisher's website:

Download a PDF file with a sample from the book.

Sam Collins is a young International Master from Ireland who won the Irish Championship in 2002.  He competed in several World and European junior championships and has represented Ireland in four Olympiads, winning a gold medal at Bled in 2002.  He is also an experienced chess teacher who has lectured at the Berkeley Chess School in California.  His previous book for Gambit was the highly successful general opening work Understanding the Chess Openings.
 

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