This is an extract from the book Keep it Simple: 1.e4 by Christof Sielecki, published by New In Chess.

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Don’t you hate it when you are at a chess tournament, right before the first round, and some local important person is going on about all kinds of things?

You are eager to start playing, moving the pieces, getting into a struggle over the board – and someone is stopping you! I have to confess that I feel similarly with book prefaces.

Usually I just skip them and dive right into the moves of the chapters I am most interested in, hungry for ‘real’ information – not some chit-chat.

Therefore this won’t be a long preface.

The main point of it is to tell you the idea behind the ‘Keep It Simple’ approach.

In fact, ‘Keep It Simple’ has been my motto in chess and in particular as a chess instructor for a while, so writing and naming a book after it is a very logical thing to do.

So what is this repertoire concept all about?

Most opening books nowadays have reached enormous complexity, often spanning several volumes, totaling 1000+ pages.

This depth of analysis is useful for very strong players, but not so much for amateur players.

I felt it must be possible to ‘Keep It Simple’ instead, being more practical than scientific in the choices.

Against the main-line defences White does not get an advantage anyway – for example the drawing percentage in top level correspondence chess speaks for itself.

My main ‘KIS’ guidelines are:

-The chosen lines are simple to learn.
-It must be possible to find your way if you forget your lines.
-Choose lines that may not be most critical, but uncomfortable for the opponent.

Compiling the repertoire according to these guidelines has led to a very classical, sound and reliable repertoire.

You will get good endgames frequently, or positions with long-term assets like the pair of bishops.

You won’t get unsound gambits or tricky lines that can be refuted – all lines are playable up to a very high level; in fact most of the repertoire has been played by top players, at least occasionally or in quicker time controls.

The ‘KIS’ approach is of course applicable to many openings, so why is this a 1.e4 based White repertoire in particular?

The reason is mainly my job as a chess teacher.

Over the years I met many students or junior players that I coached at tournaments – and lots of them play 1.e4, of course.

Whenever they asked for general advice or needed a quick preparation session before a game I was less of a help because I’ve played non-1.e4- openings all my life with white.

This book project helped to fix this.

While researching for the book I got an excellent general overview on 1.e4 as a whole, trying to find good lines that fitted the ‘KIS’ approach.

I don’t know if you already play 1.e4, or if you try to use this book to add 1.e4 to your opening repertoire.

Before this book project I had not played 1.e4 seriously in tournament chess for ages.

Since starting with it I have played 1.e4 quite succesfully in all time controls.

I feel the ‘KIS’ approach makes it a bit easier to adopt 1.e4, compared to more complex repertoires.

The final important point I need to mention is that ‘Keep It Simple: 1.e4’ was developed first as an online, interactive book on the platform www. chessable.com.

On the website you can learn the moves based on text and videos.

This product was released in March 2018.

The paper book you are now reading has the same content, only adjusted to fit the format better.

Based on the feedback of Chessable users I have added some lines that were played right after the release or that I simply forgot initially – having hundreds of readers before the paper book goes to print is excellent quality assurance!

The only substantial difference between the Chessable version and this paper book release is the add-on of 30 instructional games for this book, illustrating typical middlegames and ideas for the selected lines.

Somehow I still managed to make this intro too long, despite all my good intentions at the beginning!

So just one more thing.

Always remember: ‘Keep It Simple for you, make it difficult for your opponents!’

Christof Sielecki
Dinslaken, Germany
September 2018

Sicilian Defence: 1.e4 c5

The Sicilian Defence is popular on all levels and is Black’s most respected reply to 1.e4, on par with the classical 1...e5.

The non-symmetrical nature of the position often leads to a tense, complicated game.

The most principled way to fight the Sicilian is to play the Open Sicilian, basically going 2.♘f3 and 3.d4, almost regardless of Black’s second move.

The main practical issue with this approach is: Black has a very wide range of subvariations that you need to prepare for and most of them require very precise move-by-move knowledge.

One key idea of the ‘Keep It Simple’ approach is that it should be possible for you to find good moves over the board in case you have forgotten your concrete lines.

In the Open Sicilian however there are many lines that are almost impossible to figure out over the board.

It can easily happen that one inaccurate move leads to severe trouble.

This is the reason why the Open Sicilian is not featured in this book.

Instead I decided to suggest an anti-Sicilian repertoire, based on ♗b5(+) and a delayed c2-c3 (Alapin), depending on Black’s 2nd move choice.

One practical advantage of this repertoire is that it starts with 2.♘f3.

That means that once you have mastered the lines presented here you can easily, at a later stage, expand your repertoire with an Open Sicilian against a particular black 2nd move, while still not needing to learn all possible Black systems.

For example, you may decide at some point to play 3.d4 against 2...e6.

That is an Open Sicilian, but Black cannot play lines like the Najdorf, Dragon or Sveshnikov anymore.

Most likely you would get a Taimanov, Kan, or Scheveningen.

That’s far more manageable than playing the Open Sicilian all the time.

This way the suggested repertoire is easily modifiable – you may use all of it, or replace a particular line with something else later if you so desire.

Let’s have an overview on the presented lines.

Chapter 9: 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5

This is the Rossolimo Variation, our choice against 2...♘c6.

Nowadays this is not a sideline anymore, but possibly White’s main try for an advantage, which avoids entering the Open Sicilian with 3.d4.

At the professional level, the main reason for avoiding the Open Sicilian after 2...♘c6 is the Sveshnikov Variation after 3.d4 cxd4 4.♘xd4 ♘f6 5.♘c3 e5.

White struggles to find anything against it, so many Pros have switched to 3.♗b5.

For our purposes the Rossolimo is a very logical choice as it is based on very sound principles, including quick development and good pawn structures.

The positions are usually more strategic in nature, and it is possible to find them over the board in case you have forgotten what you looked at before the game.

Black has a plethora of options against the Rossolimo.

But don’t feel too intimidated, as none of them require extremely detailed knowledge to avoid trouble.

You will be OK with common-sense moves and you will frequently get good positions using the ideas presented in this repertoire.

In the starting position of the Rossolimo Black has tried many different rare moves.

We’ll have a look at all these minor options in Chapter 9.

Chapter 10: 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 g6

This is the most popular reply, and examined in Chapter 10.

Black prepares the fianchetto and tries to increase his control over d4 this way.

It also emphasizes kingside development more than the other moves.

Note that White will castle on move 4, while Black’s king will be in the centre for a while.

This is not a big issue yet, as the position is closed, but further delaying it might be a cause for later concerns.

Chapter 11: 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 e6

The second most popular move for Black, only surpassed by 3...g6.

Black’s main idea is to go ...♘ge7, to allow a recapture on c6 with a knight.

The other point is to support a later ...d7-d5.

This line is discussed in Chapter 11.

Chapter 12: 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 d6

Black intends to play ...♗d7 followed by ...a7-a6 to question the bishop.

This plan is quite logical, but at the same time rather slow.

I think that White has good prospects to get an edge against it.

It is important to note that we might also get this position via 2... d6 3 ♗b5+ ♘c6.

Please refer to Chapter 12 for this line.

Chapter 13: 2.♘f3 d6 3.♗b5+ ♗d7

3.♗b5+ is called ‘Moscow Variation’.

I briefly tried to find out why this name is used, but came up empty.

This line always had a somewhat lame reputation, but this has changed lately.

As White got more and more frustrated with battling the Najdorf, this move gained more popularity and is now used regularly by almost all elite players, including World Champion Magnus Carlsen.

3...♗d7 is the most solid reply for Black as it does not clog up his development that much.

We will trade on d7 and later set up a Maroczy Bind in most cases.

The Moscow with 3...♗d7 is the subject of Chapter 13.

Chapter 14: 2.♘f3 d6 3.♗b5+ ♘d7

This is the usual choice of ambitious players.

They avoid the immediate bishop trade, but Black’s development is delayed.

This variation usually leads to complex middlegames with oftentimes all pieces and pawns on the board.

Please see Chapter 14 for this combative line.

Chapter 15: 2.♘f3 e6 3.c3

Going 2...e6 is Black’s third most popular move, right after 2...d6 and 2...♘c6.

In recent years, the lines connected with it, in particular the Taimanov after 3.d4 cxd4 4.♘xd4 ♘c6, have become very popular.

The Taimanov is a good system for Black, but an additional factor in favour of it is that you can avoid any 3.♗b5 lines with this move order.

Our repertoire features ♗b5 against 2...d6 and 2...♘c6, but against 2... e6 we need a different approach.

My recommendation is to go 3.c3, in the style of the Alapin Sicilian.

Compared to c2-c3 on move 2 Black is committed to an early ...e7-e6.

This of course is not a huge issue for Black, but it greatly reduces his choice of lines.

This makes it rather easy for White to learn this system. It is examined in Chapter 15.

Chapter 16: Rare lines on move 2

After 2.♘f3, Black’s most popular moves are 2...♘c6, 2...d6 and 2... e6.

Besides these main lines, Black has some rare moves available that we should know good answers to – they can be tricky to handle if you have nothing prepared.

Chapter 16 is the ‘odds and ends’ of the Sicilian and shows how to reply to the offbeat lines.

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