The Modernized Sicilian Kan

When you are building your repertoire you

have many choices available against 1.e4. Everyone knows the Sicilian is the

most dangerous reply but there are so many choices! Most of them are highly

theoretical such as the Najdorf or the Dragon. Some are very difficult to

understand from a positional and dynamical point of view. The Kalashnikov and

the Sveshnikov are two good examples, without even mentioning the amount of

theory.

I have always been interested by less

theoretical Sicilians. I have been playing the Classical Sicilian for a long

time and right before the covid period, I decided to find a new one. The

Sicilian Kan came to me as a very serious option, and I decided to work on it.

In the meantime, my friend and editor Danil Vanheirzeele offered me the chance

to author a book about it. This came to me as a complete surprise, as I had no

experience with it. In comparison with my work on the Reti and the Dutch (my

two previous books), I am a newbie on the subject. But I decided to accept the

challenge. I found it extremely interesting, as this gave me a fresh look at

the positions. I think I managed to ask myself the questions everyone would

have asked. I also work as a second for others and am accustomed to working on

openings I do not necessarily play as well as finding the key ideas very quickly.

So, after a deep initial work to understand the variations, I was ready to

start writing8

In opposition to my prior efforts, I

decided to start with the mainlines. I did it both during my work and then in

the structure of the book. It seemed better to address the most difficult lines

first to prove that Black gets playable positions, and then take care of the less

challenging lines. This approach allows you to have an idea of the typical

positions and then compare it with the less usual lines so you may understand

why the sidelines are not as good.

I take this as an opportunity to share

my knowledge of openings and how I analyze them. I started this book with the

idea that I wanted it to be useful for all levels of playing strength,

from amateurs to even top grandmasters. I really consider the best books to be

those where everyone can understand the basics of the variations while also

being of use to anyone that aims at going deeper into the theory.

I based many of the lines and

conclusions in this book not only on computer evaluation, but also from a

practical point of view. While I did a deep dive using strong engines when

analyzing the lines I cannot say that they are perfect. The most important

thing is that all of the evaluations are based upon my own understanding and knowledge of

chess.

Adrien Demuth November 2021