Bojkov: Playing the Main Lines with Bologan

Beating the Sicilian

Grandmaster Bologan's Repertoire Vol.1

In the Sicilian White understands that Black will not be a patient lamb but will try to get at him at the very first opportunity. For those who are ready to take on the challenge and plunge into the wonderful world of combinations, attacks and counter-attacks, for those who really love chess... this DVD is designed for you!

In the first volume of the Open Sicilian for White we present all black reactions to 2...Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4. This includes the Sveshnikov/Cheliabinsk Variation, the Rauzer Attack, the Maroczy Bind and a few other minor side lines.

The approach is typical for Bologan’s DVDs, as he tries to describe in a compact format plans and reactions from White’s point of view. With the help of this DVD one can forget about fears concerning the tons of theory in the Open Sicilian and can get straight into the real fight!

Video running time: six hours

Playing the Main Lines with Bologan (Part 1)

Review by GM Dejan Bojkov

Repertoire books and DVDs have became extremely fashionable nowadays. The demands on chess players' knowledge have greatly increased, information flows through the air (well, the Internet, to be more precise), and in order to survive and be successful we need to study and learn a lot of things.

The approach in these repertoire DVDs by GM Viorel Bologan is to provide concentrated knowledge on the main lines of each type of the Sicilian, and to orientate you in what direction to put your efforts. The task is still very difficult, as there are so many Sicilians. But Bologan has solved it efficiently by dividing the series into three parts, concentrated on the openings after 2…Nc6, 2…d6 and 2…e6. Sometimes the lines might transpose of course, but in general the idea is very good.

This review, which conincides with Bologan's recent success at the Chebanenko Memorial in Chisinau, Moldova, is about the first part of the series, the one which deals with the main lines after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6

The suggested lines are:

1. The Maroczy Bind against the Accelerated Dragon
2. The Rauzer Attack against the Classical Sicilian
3. The 11.c4 Line against the Sveshnikov Sicilian.

Some less common, but still playable lines like the Loewental, the Kalashnikov and the Grivas Sicilian are also covered here.

The principle approach in teaching theory is obvious. White is going for the main lines, and searches for an advantage there. If you are a 1.e4 player you will sooner or later need to employ the principle lines if you want to get something from the opening.

A very strong point on the DVD is the fact that Bologan uses a lot of the recommendations of his former coach and famous theoretician GM Zugurds Lanka. The Latvian GM is still well recognized for his ideas in many of the Open Sicilians, and you can find a lot of his ideas both in the video and the theoretical part of the DVD. Check the latter carefully as Bologan simply does not have the physical ability to explain everything in detail during his verbal presentation!

Nuggets

The part of the DVD that I enjoyed most of all was on the Rauzer. In the main line after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 Be7 8.0–0–0 0–0 9.f4 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Qa5 11.Bc4 Bd7 12.e5 dxe5 13.fxe5 Bc6 14.Bd2

Bologan annotates some of his encounters against the main ideologist of the Classical Sicilian, his good friend GM Vasilios Kotronias. Their principle battles always advance the theory greatly, and in this clip the author uses some of his analyses and preparation to show the main ideas of the line.

Up to this point it seemed to me that the DVD is a bit dry, from the explanation perspective, but the Moldavian GM surprised me pleasantly by spending a good deal of time explaining the typical endgames that arises this line.

A real nugget! One very strong point which I found in the DVD, and which is very helpful for those who want to learn the main lines, is that Bologan provides similar approaches between the lines – not for concrete moves, but for concrete pawn structures and piece correlations. This will help the student of the DVD keep track in the jungle of the moves that need to be digested (and memorized!), while it will also facilitate the cognitive process.

As for the Kalashnikov – I find it politically incorrect to compare a line on which the author had mere minutes to a full DVD by the reviewer, and I will leave you do this for your own. I will now go on to study the two remaining DVDs in this series, and will pass on my thoughts to you.

Until then my evaluation of the Bologan’s Sicilian Repertoire, Part 1 is: an excellent product!

Dejan Bojkov

• Order the Bologan Sicilian Part I DVD in the ChessBase Shop

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Sample lecture from Beating the Sicilian Vol. 1: 2...Nc6

About the author: GM Viktor Bologan

Born in 1971, a pupil of the top Moldavan trainer Vecheslav Chebanenko. For many years Bologan has been the number one in Moldava and has represented his country in nine Chess Olympiads. His greatest successes were in 2003, when he first of all won the Aeroflot Open and then the famous Dortmund Tournament, ahead of Kramnik and Anand. The Moldovan has extensive experience as a trainer and has also published his first books.