Sicilian Scheveningen

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Pawn Structure 101 Sicilian Scheveningen
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The pawn structure journey continues, and we are
now headed to one of the most exciting
destinations the Sicilian Scheveningen
structure! Whether you are an aggressive and
sharp player who likes to meet 1.e4 with the
Sicilian defense, or have already realized that
it is important to study pawn structures even if
they are not a part of your opening repertoire,
stick around and get ready to enter this world of
possibilities.This structure has a reputation
for creating exciting and dynamic possibilities
for both sides and leading to sharp and complex
middlegame positions, where often creative ideas
will be around the corner.
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This is an accurate description of it, but
remember that even if you consider yourself to be
a more positional and calm player who does not
like to face complications, pawn structures are
at the heart of deep chess knowledge, and you
will always benefit from learning them.Lets get
started!What does the Sicilian Scheveningen
pawn structure look like?
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This is our starting position, and the one we
will keep coming back to all along. As you can
tell, Whites pawns are placed on a2, b2, c2, e4,
f2, g2 and h2, while Blacks stand on a7, b7, d6,
e6, f7, g7 and h7.
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An experienced chess player will be able to tell
you in the blink of an eye that this position
came from a Sicilian defense. Why? Well, because
the main factor that distinguishes an open
Sicilian structure is the fact that Whites
d-pawn has been exchanged for Blacks
c-pawn.From this basic statement, we can already
gather a lot of information about the position
White has exchanged one of his two central pawns,
which gives Black a majority in the centre. Given
this advantage, Black will aim to breakthrough in
the centre either with d6-d5 or e6-e5, choosing
the right moment to do so. We will cover this in
detail in the next sections.
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To compensate for that, White has a semi-open
d-file. Specifically in the Scheveningen
Sicilian, when Blacks pawns are already advanced
to d6 and e6, play along this file trying to
weaken the d6 pawn will be of great importance
for White, especially by attacking it with major
pieces.That being said, Black also has the
c-file to explore on his own, and you will catch
a glimpse of happiness in the eyes of any
Sicilian player when they have this file to play
on. Many tactical themes can arise from this,
like a Rook being sacrificed for a Knight on c3
or a powerful Black Knight coming into c4 to
weaken the b2 pawn.
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The b2-c2-c3 complex can be exploited by Black in
many different ways. Take a look at the diagram
1b, extracted from the game Torre-Espig from
1977, to see these ideas in practice.
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The grandmaster Eugenio Torres next move was to
sacrifice the exchange on c3 to weaken the
b2-c2-c3 complex (in red) and prepared his Knight
to jump to the c4 square, where it will be
ideally placed.These are the fundamentals of
many pawn structures which come from the Sicilian
defense, but we shall now focus only on the
Scheveningen structure and see what shapes its
character, and how we can learn to play it with
mastery. Ideal setup for White
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Heres a diagram for you to understand Whites
plans visually. The ideal setup for the pieces,
even if it depends on the particularities of each
given position, would be to place a Rook on d1, a
Queen on d2 and a Bishop on e3. This way, White
can put pressure on the d6 weakness while at the
same time attacking on the Kingside.
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Ideal setup for
BlackBlack rightfully deserves a diagram
of his own ideal setup. As weve seen, the most
crucial points of Blacks plan are to play on the
c-file and push the pawn to d5. These are the
main ideas regardless of what White chooses to
play, but a few details depend on each given
position, such as the Kings placement (in the
middle or castled on the Kingside) and the g7-g5
idea.
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You can find good examples of this by studying
the commented games on the previous section.How
do you reach this pawn structure?If youve
already been roaming the chess streets for a
while now, you may know that the Sicilian
Scheveningen pawn structure actually shares its
name with the name of a chess opening the
Scheveningen variation of the Sicilian.While
there are several move orders to reach this
variation, the most classical one goes as
followse4 c5Nf3 d6d4 cxd4
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Nxd4 Nf6Nc3 e6 In Sicilian pawn
structures, its quite important to pair our
strategic studies with some opening theory and
general chess knowledge in order to understand
them as deeply as possible as you may know, the
Sicilian is one of the most theoretically
developed openings in chess.
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Just to give you a brief overview about the
Scheveningen Sicilians history, it can be said
that its name came from a tournament in the
village with the same name, in The Netherlands,
which took place in 1923. After that, many great
players have showcased this opening in their
games, one of them being the former World
Champion Garry Kasparov. However, in the last
few years and mostly at top level, this move
order has decreased in popularity.
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That happened due to a sharp and dangerous
variation White can employ, which is called the
Keres attack. In this line, White advances the
pawns very quickly and presents Black with an
undesired set of problems right from the earliest
stage of the game. The Keres attack can be
reached continuing from the above diagramg4
h6h4 Nc6Rg1
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White can afford to be so aggressive from early
on as the e6 pawn is blocking the c8 Bishop from
reaching the light squares, especially g4, and
the main plan will be to harass the f6 Knight
with the move g4-g5, condemning it to inactivity.
If you have the Black pieces and your opponent
goes for this variation, the first thing to do is
not to panic when you see pawns being launched
forwards. A good idea to counter Whites plans,
and the main theoretical move after 6.g4, is to
reply with 6h6.
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This move prevents White from playing g5, which
is the natural continuation after g4. Many chess
players feel uncomfortable facing such a sharp
variation, especially against well-prepared
opponents, so they have looked for another way to
play their beloved Scheveningen Sicilian while
avoiding the Keres attack. To do so, they have
moved from the Scheveningen Sicilian classical
move order into a different one, starting from
the Najdorf variation.The pure Najdorf sees
Black playing e7-e5 more often than e7-e6, but
players who prefer the Scheveningen will choose
their favorite structure however, e7-e5 is also
a perfectly good move.
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They are just two distinct ways of playing the
same position, and often Black will even strive
to play e7-e5 later on, transposing to a Najdorf
structure. We will cover the e7-e5 advance in
greater depth in the article on the Sicilian
Boleslavsky pawn structure.The main difference
between the Najdorf and the Scheveningen is that
the Najdorf includes a very early a6 for Black
however, in most positions of the Scheveningen
this is an useful move. In fact, a6 is played
almost always after the first introductory moves
of this opening just not as early as it is in
the Najdorf Sicilian. This move order, while
avoiding the Keres attack, gives White a whole
set of different options, many of which are also
dangerous for Black.
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We can reach the same structure in this waye4
c5Nf3 d6d4 cxd4Nxd4 Nf6Nc3 a6Be3 e6
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Please note that White has a great deal of
options on move 6 placing the Bishop on e3 is
one of the most popular ones, intending to pursue
the English Attack, but many others are possible,
such as 6.Bc4, 6.Bg5, 6.Be2 or 6.h3. The English
Attack can be as threatening for Black as the
Keres Attack in many situations. Whites ideas
are simply to castle long and attack on the
Queenside, which also leads to extremely sharp
positions.This comes to show that there is
rarely a way to avoid a variation without running
into other dangerous possibilities its up to
the player who has the Black pieces to decide
which lines he feels more comfortable facing.
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You might be wondering at this point exactly why
do chess players choose to play the Sicilian when
it is such a dangerous opening the truth is
that it is an opening that is full of
counterchances, and in many occasions Black will
also have the possibility of attacking the enemy
King. When he doesnt, he focuses on the fact
that Whites pawn storm attacks expose his
position too much, and tries to exploit potential
weaknesses.Now that you know exactly how to find
your way from the opening, and have even learned
a little bit of theory, its time to sit back and
discuss the position in greater detail, to try to
figure out what is really happening on the board
when this pawn structure is reached.
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What are the characteristics of this pawn
structure?From the first two sections of this
article, you have certainly come to understand
that the Sicilian Scheveningen pawn structure
really does present any chess player with a rich
world of challenges and possibilities. Moreover,
you now know that the way to reach it is with the
Sicilian defense, whether it may be with the
classical Scheveningen move order or the more
modern Najdorf move order. However, these few
things that you already know are useful, but
clearly they are not enough to truly come to a
description of the position there is still a
lot more to learn about this structure.
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As you have read before, structures that come
from an open Sicilian have a common
characteristic Whites d-pawn has been exchanged
for Blacks c-pawn. You already know that this
does shape the character of the position, given
that much of Whites play will happen along the
d-file, whereas Black will try to put as much
power as possible on his own territory, the
c-file.A common theme that will accompany you in
your pawn structure journey all along is that it
is almost always impossible to define who is
better in a given position by considering only
the placement of the pawns. However, in which
concerns the Sicilian structures
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it is commonly believed that Black has more
potential in the centre.It is very clear why
this happens White has exchanged a central pawn,
which left Black with more presence on this
crucial area of the board.While Blacks centre
in the Scheveningen structure can appear to be
quite modest, as the pawns are not very further
advanced, this is actually not only a rather
solid setup, with the increased control of the d5
and e5 squares, but it is also an extremely
flexible one.Black will keep his chances out in
the open, as he might advance either d5
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(the main plan to breakthrough in the centre) or
even e5, depending on the situation, proceeding
with rapid development full of counterchances and
piece activity.
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From Whites point of view, the position also
offers many chances for sharp and creative
play.As you have seen from the ultra-aggressive
Keres attack, White will often try to grab an
even bigger space advantage from early on, while
putting Blacks pieces in an uncomfortable,
passive position, and threatening a direct attack
to the King.The plan of playing g4-g5 is not the
only aggressive setup White can adopt f4-f5 and
e4-e5 are other dangerous way to pursue the
attack.
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For each of these pawn pushes White will have to
assure that the timing is right this basically
means that there are no breakthroughs in the
centre for Black, especially that the move d6-d5
is not possible. The g4-g5 setup is more
aggressive and direct, and can be played right
from the beginning of the game, while f4-f5 and
e4-e5 are more positional ideas that have to be
prepared for a few moves.Again, it comes down to
taste players who are theoretically
well-prepared and enjoy the sharpest of positions
will feel very much at home playing g4-g5, while
ambitious, yet careful chess players will most
likely prefer to prepare an f4-f5 or e4-e5
attack, not showing their intentions too
early.As naturally White already enjoys an
advantage in space and development, these plans
have to be carefully met by Black, who will have
to know what he is doing if he does not want to
be trapped in muddy waters right from the
beginning of the game.
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This essentially means that Black will have to
know some opening theory (for instance, h6
against the Keres attack, as we have mentioned in
the previous section) and have good calculation
and tactical skills, to spot all of Whites
threats and defend against them.At this point,
it is fair to pause the analysis to ask the most
important question knowing all of this
information, who stands better in this pawn
structure?The answer is it depends, of
course.Each side has its own arguments to claim
an advantage and its own strengths and
weaknesses.It comes down to the evaluation of
each individual position and also to each
players personal taste!
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Perhaps if you are a sharp and aggressive player
you would prefer to have the White pieces in this
structure, as there are more chances to attack
Black will not have the chance to attack the King
in every position. If you are a positional
player, you are not forced to attack, and there
are also calmer ways to play with White. If you
are the kind of player whose goal is to invite
the opponent to come forward to then present him
with many counterchances and problems, then you
definitely should consider playing the Sicilian
defense with Black!Pawns provide us with great
amounts of basic information, but of course
pieces are of extreme importance. There are also
other important aspects in the position, such as
King safety and strategic concepts like space,
initiative and central control.
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The Sicilian Scheveningen structure is a rather
untouched one, as not many pawns have moved
forwards or been exchanged. Due to this, its
character is hard to define with accuracy, as
many distinct plans can be carried out for both
sides there are more positional, calmer ways to
play, and there is aggressive, sharp, attacking
play.Something that will help define which type
of play we are going to encounter is to analyze
Whites King position. In this structure, it is
possible for White to castle both to the Kingside
and Queenside, while Black will most likely
castle Kingside, since the c-file is open and he
will not want to expose his King in such a way.
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If White castles Queenside, then certainly he
will have venomous intentions of entering an
opposite-side castling position and he will try
to produce a pawn storm on the Kingside to
threaten Blacks King. On Blacks end, pawns will
also be pushed to attack Whites King on the
Queenside (with moves like a5-a4, b5-b4). The
following diagram shows how the opposite forces
plan to attack each other.
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If White castles Queenside, then certainly he
will have venomous intentions of entering an
opposite-side castling position and he will try
to produce a pawn storm on the Kingside to
threaten Blacks King. On Blacks end, pawns will
also be pushed to attack Whites King on the
Queenside (with moves like a5-a4, b5-b4). The
following diagram shows how the opposite forces
plan to attack each other.
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All of this being said, lets try to summarize
everything we have learned so far and make a list
of the most important characteristics of this
pawn structureWhites positionGenerally, White
enjoys a lead in development and spaceThe
d-file is half open and d6 is a potential
weakness. White can exploit this by placing major
pieces (Rooks and Queen) on this file to put
pressure on the weak pawnThere are many
possibilities to advance the Kingside pawns and
generate a dangerous attack
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Blacks positionBlack has two pawns versus one
in the centre, which grants him the possibility
to break through with either d5 or e5 The
c-file is half open and there are potential
weaknesses on the c2-b2-c3 complex If White
relocates his King to the Queenside, there is a
possibility of building an attack by advancing
the pawns, especially with a5-a4 and b5-b4.This
knowledge is valuable, but all of these
characteristics are of no use without plans in
the next section, we will discuss exactly how to
exploit each of these.
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Now that we have a clearer outlook on the
Sicilian Scheveningen pawn structure, time has
come to discuss how the position should really be
played, and to analyze Whites and Blacks
chances in practice.How do you play in this pawn
structure?As you have extensively read by now,
the Sicilian Scheveningen pawn structure rings
the following few words sharp, aggressive,
complex, among others.While all of this helps us
roughly know which kind of position we are
getting to, in chess strategy it is a crucial to
be able to build a good plan, while anticipating
our opponents main options.
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It is now time to find out exactly how to do so
in this pawn structure.Firstly, it is important
to keep our strengths and weaknesses list in
mind, as exploiting them will be the ultimate
goal of our plan.Lets start by taking a look at
what White can do. As we now know, White will
often adopt an aggressive setup, either by going
for g4-g5 from early on, or by preparing f4-f5 or
e4-e5 in any case, attacking the enemy King is
the main goal. As you may remember from the
previous section, White has to ensure the move
d6-d5 is not possible for Black before launching
an attack,
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and g4-g5 is usually played earlier on in the
game, while f4-f5 and e4-e5 need more
preparation. This happens because they are closer
to the centre, and its best to safeguard the
King and develop the pieces before playing them,
as Black may be able to counterattack with d6-d5
more easily. The best way to see these attacking
chances in practice is to study a few top level
games and we will start by studying a game
between the Chinese grandmaster Yu Yangyi and his
fellow countrywoman Hou Yifan, the top womens
chess player nowadays.This game took place in
the Gibraltar open tournament of 2015.
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After the first few introductory moves, we have
reached the position in diagram 1i, where White
has played natural development moves, already
looking to launch the Kingside pawns forward f4,
Qf3 and long castling.
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Playing f4 is a natural move because it helps
expanding on the Kingside, and f3 is a good
square for the Queen because it supports both the
f4-f5 and g4-g5 advances, while allowing the King
to castle. Its important to develop the pieces
and protect the King before launching the pawns
forward, as leaving the King in the middle would
leave it even more vulnerable to d6-d5
breakthroughs by Black.On the other hand, Black
has also developed in natural Scheveningen style
the Bishop to e7, the Queen to c7 and the Knight
to c6, preparing to castle and start his own
attack towards the White King. It must be said
that e7 is the only good square for the Bishop,
given that there is a pawn on d6 for the time
being. The queen goes to c7 as it will be
occupying the open c-file, and the Knight on c6
has prospects of going to a5 and e5, keeping an
eye on the c4 square.
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The game continued0-0-0 a6 g4 Nd7 g5 b5
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We see the attacking ideas beginning to gain
shape at this point, and how White is already
further advanced on the Kingside than Black is on
the Queenside. Please note that White decided to
push the g-pawn instead of the h-pawn as h4 would
allow Black to block the position by playing h5.
When Black gets the chance to play h5, its
usually wise to take it it prevents White from
pushing either g4 or h5 himself, and drastically
reduces his attacking chances. However, Black
should only play this if White plays h4 instead
of g4 if the pawns are still on h2 and g2,
White can still break open with h3-g4. The best
way to avoid an unpleasant h5 is to do as Yu
Yangyi did play g4 as soon as the attack begins.
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A few moves later, we see White taking all of the
pawns into the enemy land successfully Bd3
Nc5Kb1 Bb7h4 Rc8h5
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The h-pawn has joined the party, and White now
enjoys a great advantage in space as all of the
pawns are cramping up Blacks Kingside. Of
course, it must be said that it was intelligent
for Black to leave the King in the middle. While
that is often unadvisable due to central
breakthroughs that can occur, in this position
His Majesty is safer there, a little bit further
away from Whites pawn storm. Each position is a
different one, and you must know how to evaluate
the risks of leaving your King in the middle of
the board. However, it can be said that if there
is a big pawn storm going on on the Kingside, it
will most likely be safer there.
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In the meantime, while Whites pawns strolled
forwards, Black has also played consistently and
improved his position by bringing the pieces out
to their best squares the Rook to c8, the Bishop
to b7 and the Knight to c5. Its clear that the
Rook must go to c8, as the c-file is Blacks
access route to the enemy King. The Bishop needs
to move out of the way so that the Rook can go
there, and b7 is the most natural square, as it
also maintains pressure on the e4 pawn the same
goes for the c5 Knight, which also puts pressure
on this pawn and on other relevant squares, such
as a4, b3 and d3.The position is probably fairly
equal at this point, but it surely is more
dangerous to play with Black, as many deadly
threats can come from Whites end.
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A few moves later, White achieved the goal of his
attack15 Nxd4Bxd4 b4Ne2 e5Bxc5 Qxc5g6!
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Playing g6 is the ultimate goal of this kind of
attack White can carry out  and thats because
now Blacks pawns near the King are questioned,
especially the vulnerable f7, and Black has not
advanced his pawns further enough to present his
own threats.Hou Yifan managed to present
tenacious defense and hold the game down to a
draw, but in this position White certainly
enjoys an advantage and the best chances to win
the game are on his side. Another game where we
see this g6 idea in practice was Muzychuk
Kosintseva, from the Womens Grand Prix of 2013
in Dilijan.
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The position in diagram
1o was achievedThis position might
not appear to bear a lot of similarities with
diagram 1n Blacks King has castled, and Whites
pawns are not as further advanced.
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However, g6 was an extremely well-played move in
both cases, as the main goal of any attack is to
provoke weaknesses on the enemy field, and thats
exactly this move does. Here, it threatens to
destroy Blacks pawn shield, and if it gets taken
with the f-pawn, Bh3 will be a very strong move,
targeting the e6 weakness. Black did not manage
to find a way to deal with the pressure in this
game, and eventually lost.If it gets taken with
the h-pawn, White gets a strong chance of playing
h5 and opening the h-file if this happens,
deadly threats with Rook and Queen can come up.
At this point, there is already not much Black
can do to counter this dangerous attack what he
should do before is try to get his own attack to
be as threatening as possible.
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The Rook should already have gone to c8 before,
and the pawns should have been advanced further.
A different way to attack for White, as we have
mentioned before, would be to play f4 followed by
e5 this is a rather distinct kind of play, as
the attack will more often be played by
maneuvering pieces. This is not as exposing as
the g4 push, hence why some players prefer to go
for this slower attack. By playing e5, White is
seeking to counter Blacks centre and challenge
the f6 Knight. Also, White gets the e4 square for
a piece, most likely a Knight, which may even
jump to d6 supported by the e5 pawn.
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If this happens, as we will see in the next few
games, Black should most likely try to close the
centre with d5. If he can do this, Whites attack
will not be as dangerous and the e4 square will
be covered.Also, more often than not, Whites
King also castles Kingside and finds a safe spot
on the h1 square.Lets take a look at this
illustrative position, extracted from the game
Kotsur Kurnosov, from the Russian Championship
of 2002.
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This is the way to play if you want to go for a
f4-e5 kind of attack safeguard the King on h1 to
avoid potential threats on the open a7-g1
diagonal, which will be open after the move f4,
and maneuver the pieces, especially the Bishop to
f3. At the same time, White has a major idea
that has already been played in this position to
bring a pawn from a2 to a4 and then to a5
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Putting pressure on Blacks queenside and forcing
him to create weaknesses, namely on the b6
square.By playing simultaneously on both sides
of the board, White will try to achieve a
controlling position even if it doesnt seem
so, these plans fit in with each other because,
for instance, if the attack fails to deliver him
a material advantage or end the game with
checkmate, he can still try to play for a
positional edge on the other side of the board
look at diagram 1q.
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The a4-a5 advance weakens the whole a7-b7-b6
complex for Black, and White can now attack
knowing that if he fails, he will have these
weaknesses to exploit, for instance by bringing a
Knight from a4 to b6. This does not happen on
the pawn storm attack we have just seen. If that
kind of attack fails, White will be in trouble,
as he will be very exposed and Black will have
his own dangerous threats going on.
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Diagram 1p is a great example of how things can
go wrong for White in this kind of direct attack.
Black has managed to exchange the g4 pawn and now
has a majority in the Kingside, as well as an
open h-file he will be able to occupy with a
Rook. In addition to this, the c2 pawn is
evidently weak, and the Knight on d4 does a great
job of attacking it at the same time as it
attacks Whites Queen.
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Blacks Rook is also ideally placed on c8, and
the Queen and a6 Knight are also ready to join
the attack.After looking at the plans White will
carry out on this position, you might be thinking
they are too dangerous to deal with and run away
from this pawn structure but keep on reading,
as its time to allow Black to put in a word for
himself.From our list of Blacks position main
characteristics, you might recall that a relevant
thing in this pawn structure is Blacks stronger
control of the central squares, having a majority
of pawns in this area of the board.
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As in most Sicilian defense positions, there is a
central breakthrough that, if done under good
conditions, could help Black find the best
squares for his pieces and activate them as much
as possible and that is the move d6-d5.You
might be thinking that it is not worth playing
the Sicilian if you have to react to dangerous
attacks and your best shot is to play d6-d5 but
the truth is that if you achieve this move, you
will have excellent winning chances.Thats what
distinguishes the Sicilian from other openings
it invites the opponent to come forward and then
presents him with questions and problems.
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As you have seen in diagram 1o, it is easier than
it seems for White to get overexposed with his
attack, and thats when the fun will start for
Black. In comparison with other openings, such
as meeting 1.e4 with 1.e5, the Sicilian presents
Black with more winning chances because the game
is more double-edged. Some players simply arent
made to strive to make a draw with Black, and
those who believe they can grab a full point are
well-suited to play the Sicilian!In which
concerns the d5 move, you might have already read
in a chess strategy book somewhere that when your
opponent aggressively attacks on one of the
wings, you must search for the right way to
breakthrough in the centre.
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A central breakthrough is so important when the
opponent is attacking because it can lead to
their pieces being disconnected and senseless, as
the attack will not be as fruitful without
central control. In addition to this, all of
Blacks pieces are standing behind the d6 pawn,
especially the Bishop on e7, waiting to be
released with this move. There is also another
point to the d6-d5 breakthrough we have seen
before that the d6 pawn could be a potential
target for White to exploit with control of the
d-file. By playing d5, this weakness disappears
forever. As often White will attack aggressively
on the Kingside, it is of vital importance to
keep this idea in mind.
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A game that illustrates this idea in perfection
is Rosito Valerga, from the Clarin Grand Prix
tournament of 1997.The position from diagram 1s
was reached after 14 moves.
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This position was reached via the Keres attack,
with the g-pawn later being exchanged for Blacks
h-pawn. However, Whites last move was
overexposing and allowed Black to go for a strong
and timely continuation.14 Qxd4Qxd4 Nxd4Rxd4
d5!
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Due to the Bc5 threat, attacking both Rooks, this
move is especially strong in this position but
only the fact that it completely disconnects
Whites pieces and exploits their overexposure
would have been enough to justify an advantage.
The Rooks are simply senseless on d4 and g1 now.
The d4 square would be great for a Knight or even
a Queen, but the Rook is simply restricted by the
d5 and e4 pawns there. On g1, the other Rook has
no attacking prospects, as Blacks King is still
in the middle.
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Last but not least, the piece that stands worse
is the Bishop on g5 it simply has no diagonals
to play on, as both f4 and h4 are restricting
it.Another possibly successful way of putting
this idea into practice is to close the position
with d6-d5 once White has chosen e4-e5 as their
attacking plan. To see this happening, take a
look at diagram 1u.
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The position was extracted from the game Sutovsky
Timman, dating from the year of 2003. White had
just played e5, only to be surprised by Black
closing the position with d5.This was actually
an incredibly smart idea from Grandmaster Jan
Timman. With Whites pawns being awkwardly placed
on e5, f4 and g5, posing any direct threats to
the Black King will not happen for the time
being. It may seem that White still has an
attack by playing the Bishop to d3 and the Queen
to h5 but the point is that Black can block with
g6 at this point, and the dark squares around the
King shouldnt worry him because he still has the
dark-squared Bishop to defend him.
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Blacks attack will simply be far quicker than
Whites. He will have the open b-file to play
against Whites King without having to worry
about his opponents attack.A few moves later,
we see how well this worked out for Black.Bd3
Rb8b3 Nc5f5 Nxd3Rxd3 Ba3Kb1 c5
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While it may not seem so clear, White simply has
no access route to Blacks King. The pawn is not
on h4 yet,
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which doesnt help him play the g6 move we had
previously covered, since Black will be
well-prepared to take with the h-pawn.Black is
simply quicker than White in this position,
because the Knight on d4 is under attack. If
White retreats it, then the c-pawn quickly jumps
forward to join the attack, which means that c4
will happen before White has time to reply on the
Kingside. With the power of the Queen, Rook and
Bishop, Black ended up grabbing a material
advantage and claiming victory in this game.You
can conclude that d6-d5 is a strong idea to keep
in mind
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But be careful not to do it too early, as it
might expose and disconnect your own pieces, as
well as leave weak squares behind. Diagram 1w
shows a great example of when not to play this
move.
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It was far too early in the game to breakthrough
in the centre, because Blacks pieces are still
not well-developed the Bishop should already be
standing on e7 and the King should have castled
in order to play this move.Whites natural
response, e4-e5, is in fact a very good move in
this position, as Blacks Knight has no other
square than its original g8, where it will stand
underdeveloped and disconnected from the game.
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This comes to show that you will need to know how
to find the perfect timing to carry out your
plan, and be aware of what could go wrong if you
dont. Even if you have to wait to play d6-d5,
if you eventually make it happen under good
conditions, it will bring you excellent
counterchances and you will have a word in the
decision of the game. As weve mentioned before,
theres no other opening against 1.e4 that allows
Black to have such great winning chances but
the price to pay for that is that you will have
to be patient and precise.There are some other
ideas in Blacks position, and we have briefly
mentioned one of them
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exploiting Whites potential weaknesses on the
Queenside by occupying the c-file. One of the
most interesting plans to create weaknesses in
this field is to bring a Knight, from either a5
or e5, into the c4 square. Here, the Knight
attacks the b2 pawn, which, on its own, will most
likely be defending a White Knight on c3
connected with a Rook on the c-file and a
potential b7-b5 advance, things can get difficult
for White if he has not managed to achieve
anything concrete on the other side of the
board.On the game Votava Stohl, from 1999,
Black has chosen to go from this plan from an
early stage in the game, which resulted in an
enjoyable position.
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Putting the Knight on e5 is a way to invite White
to come forward with f4, and then transfer it to
c4, where it will stand on its ideal square. This
is precisely what White has chosen to do, and the
game continued for a few more movesf4 Nc4Qe2
Nxb20-0 Qc7
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Black enjoys a comfortable advantage in this
position, as he is far more advanced in
destroying the Queenside than White is on the
Kingside.The weaknesses are evident here, as the
b2 pawn was crucial in the defense of the
Queenside
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Now the c2 pawn is a target, and the Knight does
no longer stand well on c3. It is also worth
mentioning that attacking on the Queenside if
White castles long, especially with the b5-b4
advance, is also an effective plan for Black on
many occasions this will of course lead to sharp
opposite-castling positions which are similar to
the ones we have been looking into. Last but not
least, there is another plan Black might carry
out if the position allows it. It is a plan that
may seem dangerous and certainly is out of the
box, but if you manage to play it in the right
way, it can lead to solving all of your
problems.It is the move g7-g5. While this may
seem crazy, please note the following most
likely, there will be a White pawn standing on
f4.
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If this pawn is advanced or taken, the e5 square
will no longer be controlled by any White pawn,
which will allow Black to place a strong central
piece there, preferably a Knight. This is
exactly the idea behind the g5 move to incite
White to come forward or take the pawn and then
claim the e5 square. Often, there will also be a
Bishop standing on g5, and Black can chase it
with h6, and g5 once it moves to h4.If you are
not fully convinced yet, take a look at how well
it worked out for the former World Champion
Viswanathan Anand in this game against the strong
Hungarian Grandmaster Peter Leko.
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After playing g5, Anand played in simple, yet
effective style he took the pawn on f4, which
was the main goal he wanted to achieve by playing
g5, expanded with b5-b4, in order to pose threats
to Whites King, and waited for the ideal moment
to place his Knight on the e5 square.
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Since the b4 advance will chase away the c3
Knight, its best to wait to play Ne5, as many
ideas could follow either taking the Bishop on
d3 to weaken the defense of the c2 point, or
moving the Knight to c4.Anand then went on to
win a smooth game.And thats pretty much a wrap
for the plans now that you must be starting to
feel like an expert on this structure, lets take
a few moments again to summarize what youve just
learned.
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It will help you to keep the most important
things in mind, and if you ever need a fresh
reminder of the Sicilian Scheveningen pawn
structures plans, you can simply come back to
this section of the article and go through our
checklists.Whites plansLaunch a kingside
attack with g4-g5 h4-h5 followed by g6Play
f4-f5 to put pressure on the e6 pawn and create
play along the a2-g8 diagonal (or the h3-c8
diagonal, in some cases)Play f4 and e5 to
launch a kingside attackPut pressure on the
d-file
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Blacks plansPlay d6-d5, the central break which
will release the position and activate the minor
piecesPlay along the c-file and place a Knight
on c4, to pressure the b2-pawn which will
typically be defending Whites Knight on c3If
White has castled long, then carry out a
queenside attach with b5-b4 a5-a4 followed by
b3If White plays f4, sometimes Black can play
g5 to fight for the control of the e5
square.ConclusionsEven if you feel like you
have had enough of checklists at this point,
there is always time for one more and it will
be the last one, as we have now reached
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The end of our coverage of the Sicilian
Scheveningen pawn structure. These are the main
conclusions we can drawIf you want to improve
as a chess player, namely in chess strategy, you
must study pawn structures they are at the very
base of all knowledgeThe Scheveningen pawn
structure is extremely interesting, and will
often lead to sharp middlegames with chances for
creative play, as most structures coming from the
Sicilian defenseSpeaking of the Sicilian
defense, thats where you will find this
structure especially in the Scheveningen and
Najdorf SiciliansThis structure is
characterized by an imbalance in the central
pawns Black has a majority in the centre while
White has a majority on the Queenside
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Whites most important plan is, in general terms,
to launch a Kingside attack, though there are
many ways to do soBlacks most important plans
are, in general terms, to breakthrough in the
centre and play on the c-file.