The Sicilian Defense

Scheveningen Structure

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This compact way of playing the Sicilian Defense is characterized by a superior, tight, flexible pawn structure for Black with pawns on d6 and e6. This defensive formation allows Black to develop nicely and prepare to fight on the queenside by pushing his a and b pawns. The diagram to the left illustrates the Scheveningen pawn structure and helps simplify some of the ideas involved in this type of system. Black has the half-open c-file to work down while maintaining a solid space advantage in the center.

In this system it will be difficult for white to improve his pawn structure without leaving holes in his defense. For example, white’s lone e pawn can become and object of attack and bolstering its defense by f3 leaves the White king exposed.

Another major consideration in this Sicilian Defense structure is when to push the Black’s d or e pawn. Black needs to be very careful should he need to play e5 as the d5 square then becomes a potentially lethal outpost for a white knight. From the diagram you can see that after e5, a white knight on d5 cannot be forced out by a pawn. This would also leave Black’s d pawn backward and vulnerable to attack.

In this following video I play through and provide my commentary on a great example of how to play this particular version of the Sicilian Defense by the great Kasparov.