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Sicilian, Kan (B42)
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 a6 5 Bd3

Number of games in database: 10008
Years covered: 1859 to 2025
Overall record:
   White wins 38.0%
   Black wins 30.4%
   Draws 31.6%

Popularity graph, by decade

Explore this opening  |  Search for sacrifices in this opening.
PRACTITIONERS
With the White Pieces With the Black Pieces
Milan Matulovic  34 games
Alexander Motylev  34 games
Oleg Korneev  32 games
Florin Gheorghiu  88 games
Normunds Miezis  79 games
Ivan Farago  65 games
NOTABLE GAMES [what is this?]
White Wins Black Wins
Fischer vs Petrosian, 1971
Tal vs Suetin, 1969
Stein vs Portisch, 1962
Parma vs M Damjanovic, 1960
S Bouaziz vs Miles, 1979
Anand vs Ivanchuk, 2007
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 page 1 of 401; games 1-25 of 10,008 
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. B Suhle vs Anderssen 0-1491859CologneB42 Sicilian, Kan
2. A Schwarz vs Anderssen 0-1401873ViennaB42 Sicilian, Kan
3. Mason vs L D Barbour 1-02718764th American Chess Congress, PhiladelphiaB42 Sicilian, Kan
4. Olland vs A Prange  1-0261889Amsterdam-BB42 Sicilian, Kan
5. M Porges vs W Paulsen 1-07018927th DSB Congress, DresdenB42 Sicilian, Kan
6. G Marco vs von Gottschall  1-037190414th DSB Congress, CoburgB42 Sicilian, Kan
7. Taubenhaus vs Tarrasch 0-1471905OstendB42 Sicilian, Kan
8. Hromadka vs Hafe  1-0481911Cologne-AB42 Sicilian, Kan
9. H Von Hennig vs A Hallgarten 0-1561913Lower Elbe Ch TtB42 Sicilian, Kan
10. Capablanca vs Tartakower ½-½371914ViennaB42 Sicilian, Kan
11. M Steffelaar vs M Garschagen  1-0181917Parkwijk-HSVB42 Sicilian, Kan
12. H Strick van Linschoten vs H Steffelaar  ½-½341918Scheveninger Silver CupB42 Sicilian, Kan
13. G Marco vs Reti  ½-½311922Bad PistyanB42 Sicilian, Kan
14. A Dusek vs R Tereba  1-0331923PardubiceB42 Sicilian, Kan
15. D Daniuszewski vs O Naegeli 1-0321924Paris Unofficial OlympiadB42 Sicilian, Kan
16. G Thomas vs Tartakower  ½-½351925MarienbadB42 Sicilian, Kan
17. R Michell vs Tartakower 0-1591925MarienbadB42 Sicilian, Kan
18. M Romi vs A Louis  1-0491925Scarborough-AB42 Sicilian, Kan
19. R MacDonald vs G Wheatcroft  0-1401926British ChampionshipB42 Sicilian, Kan
20. V Safonov vs M Pasman  0-1471956All-Union Mass TournamentB42 Sicilian, Kan
21. N Bakulin vs Vasiukov  0-1271957Ch Moscow (1/2 final)B42 Sicilian, Kan
22. A Ljuboschiz vs A Roizman  0-1361957Belarusian ChampionshipB42 Sicilian, Kan
23. J H Donner vs O'Kelly  ½-½221957HoogovensB42 Sicilian, Kan
24. K Klaman vs Furman  ½-½291957USSR ChampionshipB42 Sicilian, Kan
25. J Durao vs Benko  ½-½201957Dublin ZonalB42 Sicilian, Kan
 page 1 of 401; games 1-25 of 10,008 
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 1 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Jun-01-04  tomh72000: Has anyone seen the following variation: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Bc4 6.Nb3 Be7 ? The Opening Explorer has 1994 as the earliest and 2004 as the latest year. This must be a pretty new line, because it isn't in any books I own, and I think it's at the cutting edge of theory right now, because it was played 3 times in the russian ch qualifiers this year, while the previous main line of 6...Ba7 wasn't played at all. Maybe its a Russian thing then...
Jun-01-04  OneBadDog: tomh72000 I don't know about this line that you mentioned. I know that NCO evaluates a couple of lines in thi opening as equal for Black.
Jun-01-04  tomh72000: <OneBadDog> Ok thanks. I have seen a couple of the 5...Bc5 lines as being equal too, but its just that this 6...Be7 is seemingly a very new thing. Being a Kan player myself its probably something I should know about.
Jun-01-04  OneBadDog: <tomh72000> Do you think that this line transposes into some other variation of the Sicilian, such as the Scheveningen?
Jun-01-04  tomh72000: Well, looking at the Opening Explorer it seems that the 6...Be7 line is good for black, with 36.4% wins, and only 27.3% for white. But then again, the Kan overall has one of the highest winning percentages for black (probably because of all the traps).
Jun-01-04  tomh72000: <OneBadDog> It looks that way, with the Be7, yes. And in the games I have seen with this line, black usually plays ...d6 and ...Nf6 very early, along with ...Qc7. This makes it very Scheveningen-like, yes.
Jun-01-04  OneBadDog: Just out of curiosity, why hasn't the Kan been as popular as the Najdorf or the Dragon?
Jun-01-04  PinkPanther: <OneBadDog>
Although flexible, it's not as dynamic as either of those openings you mentioned, and doesn't offer black as many winning chances.
Jun-01-04  tomh72000: Well, I saw a question like this on another sicilian page. Someone (Benjamin Lau, I think) said it is just as good, but that people favour the Najdorf because Fischer played it, and Kasparov plays it now obviously. I agree with that. The dragon is very popular at club and amateur level, but it has vanished at top-level play. The Kan is definately sound though- Tal played it often, Kramnik and Kasparov have both used it before.
Jun-01-04  OneBadDog: Didn't Fischer win with the Kan in the last game of the first Fischer-Spassky match?
Jun-01-04  tomh72000: I didn't know that actually. Its very interesting if it's true. I suppose Spassky was all prepared for the Najdorf, and then was taken by surprise and beaten with the Kan.
Jun-01-04  tomh72000: <Although flexible, it's not as dynamic as either of those openings> This makes it harder to play against for white, but easier to play as black, I think.
Jun-01-04  OneBadDog: I play e4 as white and the Kan consistently causes me problems. I would alsost rather play against ultrasharp lines like the Najdorf or the Dragon.
Jun-01-04  PinkPanther: <OneBadDog>
Play against a person who really knows what they're doing with either of those openings (Dragon, Najdorf) and then tell me that.

<Tomh720000>
How could an opening which is less dynamic be harder for white to play against? That doesn't make any sense, I don't really understand why the hedgehog formation that the Kan commonly takes on would be considered more difficult for white to play against, than say, the Dragon or Najdorf.

Jun-01-04  OneBadDog: <PinkPanther> I usually play the English attack against the Najdorf and the Yugoslav attack against the Dragon. Although these lines require a certain amount of theoretical knowledge to play well, the ideas are generally straightforward and easy to understand. When I lose to either the Najdorf or the Dragon, it's because my opponent saw further ahead than I did or calculated better. However, when I lose to the Kan its because I dont have the patience for a slower, more strategic kind of game.
Jun-01-04  PinkPanther: <OneBadDog>
Then all you have to do is play one of the sharper lines in the Kan where you play f4 and perhaps g4 and go for a kingside attack. There is almost no way black can force white to play a certain type of chess, that's one of the great things about playing the white pieces, you get to (for the most part) control the "flavor" of the game. You can't find an opening for me (which is perceived as being boring) that black can play where white can't turn it around and play something relatively sharp and tactical.
Jun-01-04  OneBadDog: <PinkPanther> I think our old buddy Kramnik would disagree with you. The Berlin Defence is a dull opening that White really cant avoid if he he wants to play the Ruy.
Jun-01-04  PinkPanther: There are some variations of the Berlin Defense that aren't as drawish as the one Kasparov kept walking into.
Jun-01-04  refutor: a good attacking line v. ...Be7 was shown in A Ivanov vs Gulko, 2003
Jun-01-04  Dudley: Attacking always carrys a certain amount of risk for the attacking side. A slow strategic line like the Kan is harder to attack in relative safety than a more aggressive line like the Dragon. Black doesn't give anything for white to attack, like a fianchetto pawn formation or a knight on f6. By playing lines like this,Black can force white to play positionally or unsoundly if he insists on attacking. There is always some wild line you can find if attacking at all costs is your goal, and if you are the stronger player it might work. If not, you tend to get slaughtered.
Jun-01-04  OneBadDog: Look out world! I just purchased Emms book on the Kan!
Jun-01-04  PinkPanther: <Dudley>
No knight on f6? I don't know what kind of Kan Sicilian formations you've been playing, but nearly every time I ever played the Kan my knight came to f6 fairly early on.
Jun-01-04  Dudley: Well, there is a line in the Kan where the KB goes to c5 followed by Ne7 so it doesn't have go to Nf6, which I have looked at as a way to avoid the Keres attack.
Jun-01-04  PinkPanther: <Dudley>
But in the line you mentioned the bishop CAN come back to e7. Also, the Keres Attack is part of the Scheveningen not the Kan (although the openings sometimes transpose, I don't think they really can in this case).
Jun-01-04  Dudley: Maybe you are right, but I think the intention is for the bishop to go to a7 if attacked by Nb3. Another option might be to move Ne7 before the KB moves, play Nc6, NxNd4 and then Ne7-c6. To tell the truth, I am mainly an acc. dragon player and am looking for another type of Sicilian to play that requires less memorization.
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