King's Indian Attack: Sicilian Variation

What Is The Sicilian Variation?

The point of 2...c5 is speed. By taking the centre with pawns on d5 and c5 you deny White any hook to attack, so he sets up behind d3, Bg2, O-O and Nbd2 and plays e4, aiming for e5. That advance shuts the centre and splits the board: White's pawn chain points at your king, yours points at his queenside.

Whoever gets their pawn storm going first wins, and with the extra space on the queenside you get there first. Push ...b5 and ...a5 without delay, and hit the e5 chain with ...f6 while his knight is touring to f1 and h2. The mistake is drifting: quiet developing moves hand White the tempi he needs for Qe2, Bf4 and h4.

How Do You Play Against The King's Indian Attack: Sicilian Variation?

93% complete the setup with 3.Bg2, which tells you all you need to know about how forced this is. You have met the King's Indian Attack with ...c5, taking central space while White arranges pieces without contesting it.

Systems that ignore your moves are punished by taking the space they decline to contest, and ...c5 is exactly that move. Follow with ...Nc6, ...e5 or ...d5 and pieces aimed at d4, and you will have a real centre while White is still fianchettoing. The attack White wants comes from e4 and e5 on the kingside, so be ready to meet it before it starts. White scores 54% to 41% over 463 games, so the setup is more dangerous than it looks.

How Does Play Continue From Here?

Move	Share		Games
Bg2	93%		498
d4	3%		14
d3	2%		10
c4	2%		9