If you are looking for a deadly weapon against 1.e4, the Kalashnikov Sicilian could well be your best choice! The Kalashnikov is a special opening were theoretical knowledge plays an important role. It’s in 1834 that the French champion Labourdonnais played 4...e5 for the first time. But the Kalashnikov is a decidedly modern opening. That’s why the opening only started gaining in popularity in the late 1980’s, in particular thanks to the famous Russian grandmaster Evgeny Sveshnikov. Ever since, many top level players have added it to their repertoire: Pavel Tregubov, Alexei Fedorov, Etienne Bacrot, Alexander Moiseenko and Teimour Radjabov. Grandmasters Cornette and Libiszewski always thought that the Kalashnikov, which promises Black dynamic compensation in exchange for the apparent weakness of the d5 square and the backwards d6 pawn, was not well-known enough and that its potential was underestimated. Iinitially they were planning to only build a Black repertoire, but they quickly realized it would be a shame to not reveal all of the lines and ideas that are concealed within the Kalashnikov. They present objective and exhaustive analyses of every line, with numerous novelties. Readers can build a complete Black repertoire and do not any longer need to be afraid of facing the Kalashnikov with White. This book will be of interest for both amateurs and experts of this variation as it includes many new ideas for White and Black. Matthieu Cornette (born on 9 September 1985) is a French GM who is respected both as a player and as a coach. He wrote this book together with his friend, French GM Fabian Libiszewski (born on 5 January 1984).
