Starting Out: Sicilian Najdorf (Starting Out - Everyman Chess) [Paperback]

Richard Palliser (Author)

Book Description

Series: Starting Out - Everyman Chess | Publication Date: April 1, 2006

Grandmaster Joe Gallagher studies the Sicilian Najdorf in a simplistic way, introducing the crucial initial moves and ideas and taking care to explain the reasoning behind them, something that has sometimes been neglected or taken for granted.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"They will fill a serious gap in the current chess literature, and I'm sure they will be extremely popular with amateur chess players."--Chessville.com

"The ideal opening training manuals."--Glenn Flear, New In Chess

About the Author

Former British Championship winner Joe Gallagher is an English Grandmaster who has been living in Switzerland for a number of years and is a regular member of the Swiss national team. He has many fine books to his name and has a deserved reputation as a first class writer. His previous works include Starting Out: The King's Indian and The Magic of Mikhail Tal.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (April 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857443926
• ISBN-13: 978-1857443929
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,289,704 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Starting Out: Sicilian Najdorf, October 13, 2007

By 

Christopher H. Harrington (Reno, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Starting Out: Sicilian Najdorf (Starting Out - Everyman Chess) (Paperback)

I'm not sure if the previous reviewer actually read the book. It covers all the main variations, not just the Karpov Approach. For example: 71 pages on the English Attack(both e5 and Ng4), 36 pages on Fisher's 6 Bc4, 51 pages on 6.Bg5 and finally 20 pages on 6.f4 and minor variations.

The Najdorf is extremely complex and sharp as an opening option for black. Don't buy this book if you don't want to devote many, many hours to understanding the ideas of this opening. I will tell you that I have come to a much better understanding of this opening as I read through this book. It is also essential to learn some of the forcing lines in certain variations (e.g. Poisioned Pawn). There are many examples of "only one move" situations....but then when you make those only moves your game is grand.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Necessary Repertoire Book, April 24, 2010

By 

Tom Beckman (Washington DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Starting Out: Sicilian Najdorf (Starting Out - Everyman Chess) (Paperback)

I'm a FIDE expert and own well over 100 opening books. Several months ago I decided to change my repertoire from the French to the Najdorf Sicilian. This book is the best single source available that I found. The book was likely completed in 2005, and theory has moved forward somewhat. Too bad that Palliser didn't update the book. Also, too bad Deep Rybka wasn't available then, since it rehabilitates some lines and nixes others. Anyway, except for the line typo I found on Pg. 18, the book seems well written, although perhaps it could be better organized. My one pet peeve is that the critical lines are usually reserved for the end of the chapter, rather than the beginning. The book provides good coverage of the lines, and does provide alternative lines for Black. I give the book my solid recommendation.

14 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent introduction to the Najdorf Variation, July 26, 2006

By 

Jill Malter ([e-mail]) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Starting Out: Sicilian Najdorf (Starting Out - Everyman Chess) (Paperback)

Richard Palliser is to be congratulated on this excellent introductory book on the Najdorf variation of the Sicilian Defense, one of the more popular chess openings. It starts as follows: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6.

Many chess champions have played the Najdorf for Black. Does that mean that you ought to do so as well? Many people would say yes. I wouldn't. The reason that these great champions play it is that they want to win with Black against strong masters or even grandmasters. But suppose you are playing someone who is noticeably weaker than you? You may well have simply evened the odds against someone you would normally beat, even with Black.

I feel that the problem is that White will play an aggressive system, where one Black error means curtains. Not just a good position that White could have or should have won, but a position that Black has to resign. White can be rated much lower than Black and still be very well booked on a dangerous attack. Black will need to defend carefully. If Black forgets the proper defense, that's not good at all. Worse, it's probably going to be White, not Black, who comes up with a TN (theoretical novelty). White simply has too many options for this not to be the case. And White can spend a while doing home analysis before the game with the aid of a computer. Yes, White is more likely to come up with a surprise than Black. And not knowing White's line, Black is going to have trouble saving the game.

The book begins with a chapter on 6 Be2 for White. This has been a favorite of a World Champion, Anatoly Karpov. Karpov has had a tendency to slowly outplay most of his opponents, and 6 Be2 is a fine move for him. I do not recommend it for the rest of us. Next, we get to the most popular line, 6 Be3. That is a good line, but I don't recommend it for White either. For one thing, I feel rather strongly that putting that Bishop on e3 is generally a strategic error in the Sicilian. It always seems to get hit with moves such as Ng4 by Black at the most inconvenient times. By the way, 6...Ng4 is a pretty good answer to 6 Be3, as the author spends over 30 pages pointing out.

The next White idea is 6 Bc4, Bobby Fischer's favorite line. It's not bad, although it is not my favorite move. The author also discusses a couple of minor lines, such as 6 f4 and 6 g3. But they aren't major threats to Black's setup.

No, the move that I think puts Black in the gravest danger of losing rating points to a supposedly vastly inferior player is 6 Bg5. That is what I recommend, and Palliser spends enough time on this move to get his readers acquainted with the main ideas.

The main line that I think makes the most sense for White is 6 Bg5 e6 7 f4 Be7 8 Qf3 Qc7 9 O-O-O Nbd7 10 Bd3 b5 11 Rhe1 Bb7 12 Qg3 b4 13 Nd5 exd5 14 exd5 Kd8 15 Nc6+. Not only is Black likely to get in trouble in this line, there are all sorts of alternative lines for White along the way. Palliser shows us a good game in this variation.

As the author explains, a complicated alternative line for Black is 6 Bg5 e6 7 f4 Qb6, the infamous "Poisoned Pawn" variation. Palliser shows us a little about the continuation 8 Qd2 Qxb2 9 Rb1 (as the author says, 9 Nb3 is also a good try) 9...Qa3 in this book. He recommends 10 f5 here, which is a good line, although I happen to prefer 10 Be2 Be7 11 e5. Another popular choice for Black is 6 Bg5 e6 7 f4 b5, the Polugaevsky variation. That's risky. The author shows us how Peter Leko plays against this with White, and I recommend looking at his lines here.

In my very first tournament chess game against a Master, I played White against the Najdorf. I think my game shows some of the resources for both sides in this interesting defence:

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 (My opponent was well aware that the White side of the Najdorf was my specialty, and that playing 2...d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 here would simply be asking for trouble.) 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 d6 6 Bc4 (Black has avoided my favorite line against the Najdorf and can now play a6 with confidence.) 6...a6 7 Qe2 b5 8 Bb3 Be7 (As Palliser explains, this aggressive system for White simply gives Black a good game. Now 9 Be3 is recommended for White, but as I explained earlier, I had no intention of playing that move.) 9 Rg1 (My opponent did not even seem surprised.) 9...O-O 10 g4 b4 11 g5 bxc3 12 gxf6 (This gives Black a chance to lose at once, as 12...Qa5? 13 Rxg7+ wins for White.) 12...Bxf6 13 bxc3 Qc7 14 Qf3 Kh8 15 Bh6 (Realizing that I had been outplayed, I was hoping that Black would try to defend with 15...Rg8, as I was planning 16 Qxf6! gxf6 17 Rxg8+ Kxg8 18 Kd2, with a draw. Unfortunately, I had overlooked 15...Be5, which gives Black an excellent game as 16 Rg5 gets splattered by 16...Nd7. Against 15...Be5, I would have had to try 16 Bg5, but Black would probably have won after that. Anyway, instead of any of this, something ridiculous happened.) 15...Nd7?? 16 Qxf6 Qxc3+ 17 Ke2 gxf6 18 Bg7+ Black Resigns.

I highly recommend this book.