What's Hot- April 2003

Closed Sicilian [B26]

In the Forum section of Chesspublishing reader Frantenberg from Santiego, Chile suggested looking at the line in the Closed Sicilian commencing 1 e4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 g3 g6 4 Bg2 Bg7 5 d3 d6 and now the slightly unusual 6 Nh3

Stripunsky-Finegold is a top level encounter from the USA ending in a tough, hard-fought draw.

Tkachiev-Gelfand is a good example of how to handle the line as Black or White!

Finally, Shaw-Britton is a demonstration of how White can slowly increase the pressure before creating tactical opportunities.

Novelty of the month

The novelty of the month is Pirrot-Rotstein where Black wins a C3 Sicilian (1 e4 c5 2 c3 Nf6 3 e5 Nd5 4 d4 cxd4 5 Qxd4) in great style after only 21 moves.