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Actually, the most hotly debated topic in this line has been the name! I remember when a pamphlet on "the Paulsen Sicilian" was our only source of material on the line and the name Kan was an exotic aberration from some far-off place. By any name the line was never the meat which our heroes partook, only solid players who were more interested in scoring wins than debating move 18 in the Sicilian. This never struck a chord with much of the chess playing public, but perhaps it has been their loss. At least, until now. GM Hellsten explains in the preface of Play the Sicilian Kan that he had practiced the Caro Kann and Petroff early in his international career, but found a boredom in some of the positions. He was guided to the Kan because of Taimanov's work and was carried to a fascination with the line. Hellsten was impressed by the Kan immediately because decisions of strategy and manoeuver were the core of the variation instead of analytical depth. This sounds like a great find for any player looking to have a defense to 1.e4 that provides winning opportunities as well as a solid base. My interest in the book was vastly increased by the authors reflections. Play the Sicilian Kan is a repertoire book, focusing on the variations after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6. Hellsten has deeply annotated 40 games in 10 chapters. Chapters 1-6 cover the various lines after 5.Nc3. While 5.Bd3 has been more popular in theory, the number of setups for White after 5.Nc3 merits the larger amount of material devoted to it. The "sharpest" lines covered in the book appear after 5.Nc3 Qc7 6. Bd3 which is afforded 3 chapters and 13 games. As I said, these are the sharpest points in the book, yet Hellsten still carries a strong sense of strategy being the focus. Of course there are tactical points which are addressed, yet from Black's point of view the strength of the strategic structure is what carries weight. An example of this is Chapter 5. After 5.Nc3 Qc7 6. Bd3 Nf6 7.0-0 Black uses the manoeuver 7...Bc5 8.Nb3 Be7 to dislodge the Nd4. White's attacking chances on the K-side are lessened, so White has taken to Q-side operations. This suits Black as the natural sphere of influence for Black is from the c-file to the a-file. Seemingly a loss of tempo, the Bc5-c7 ploy has been used to direct more of the action towards Black's designs. In fact, devices using the K-bishop work out in any number of the variations after 5.Nc3, such as the 6.g3 Bb4 variation. This 6.g3 variation was quite the rage when I first tried the Kan, but has fallen into complete disfavor and the ideas behind 6...Bb4 are one reason. The next set of chapters, 7-9, concern the fashionable 5.Bd3. Here again, the Bc5-e7 sequence is seen. This works quite well because one of the main advantages of 5. Bd3 has been that White can play c4 later or keep the pawn back and pop out Nc3. With a White N on b3 the Maroczy c4 is much less of a nuisance because the Nb3 carries less support for most normal operations. There is a possible price with the Bc5-e7 idea because g7 is unguarded and Qg4 could be a pain. Yet Hellsten shows that even this is not a great worry. Finally chapter 10 looks at 5.c4 and "others". The Maroczy 5.c4 is another line that was at the center of theory for many years, yet is a rare visitor today. I must think that the reason for the loss of interest in 5.c4 is the increased understanding of the Hedgehog structure which is Hellsten's suggestion against it. All of the chapters are presented in an orderly manner which helps to remember ideas and lessen the burden of memorizing long lines. I have not read anything from GM Hellsten before and am not aware of any other volumes he has authored. That is all the more testament to what a marvelous job he has done with this book. It is a complete repertoire in the Open Sicilian for players seeking an active approach versus 1.e4 without the theoretical labor, at least for now. I am certain that this book will increase any reader's confidence in the defense, which makes me confident in recommending it to players at any level.
Now, all we have to do is
keep the line out of the spotlight! From the Publisher's website: Johan Hellsten is a Grandmaster and a former Swedish Champion who has represented his country in numerous Olympiads and team tournaments. He has enjoyed many tournament successes and has won individual gold and bronze medals at the European Team Championships. He is currently employed as a chess teacher at the Sports Federation of Chimborazo, Ecuador.
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