{"id":6407,"date":"2023-02-26T14:50:04","date_gmt":"2023-02-26T14:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/?post_type=product&#038;p=6407"},"modified":"2026-06-27T11:59:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T11:59:17","slug":"sicilian-defense-kalashnikov-variation-with-gm-misa-pap","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/shop\/sicilian-defense-kalashnikov-variation-with-gm-misa-pap\/","title":{"rendered":"Sicilian Defense: Kalashnikov Variation with GM Misa Pap"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding: 56.25% 0 0 0; position: relative;\"><iframe style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;\" title=\"Sicilian Defense: Kalashnikov Variation\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/736244551?h=9d2ed54a76&amp;badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/api\/player.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>GM Misa Pap reveals\u2026<\/h2>\n<p>Remember the game between Alexander McDonnell and Louis-Charles Mah\u00e9 de La Bourdonnais in their 1834 London match\u2026 where three Black pawns ended up on the second rank and White was forced to resign?<\/p>\n<p>That started with the following move order:\u00a0<em><strong>1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the Kalashnikov variation for you.<\/p>\n<p>A whole new system that started when Evgeny Sveshnikov, the godfather of the Sveshnikov Sicilian (4\u2026Nf6 5.Nc3 e5) diverted to 4\u2026e5 and followed it with 5\u2026d6.<\/p>\n<p>Is it any good? Absolutely, without a doubt!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter \" src=\"https:\/\/videoapi-muybridge.vimeocdn.com\/animated-thumbnails\/image\/91877b4c-caec-48c9-a970-ea7916ca1613.gif?ClientID=vimeo-core-prod&amp;Date=1659556464&amp;Signature=7d93395264bd5f7a385f1877a0e461eba2521f58\" width=\"459\" height=\"313\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>\u2026 especially if you LOVE positional chess.<\/h3>\n<p>In fact, GM Misa Pap thinks that this is one of those rare openings to learn positional chess \u2013 as a beginner or a club-level player.<\/p>\n<p>To make it easier for you, he has also brought in his\u00a0<strong>10-hour video training<\/strong>\u00a0on the Sicilian Kalashnikov\u2014where he covers the main ideas behind Black\u2019s setup, the positional opportunities, the dangers lurking behind, and helps you prepare a deep and thorough repertoire for those willing to play the line as Black.<\/p>\n<h3>Here\u2019s what you are going to learn:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The c4 push early on<\/strong>. How Carlsen, as White, played around his d4-square weakness and made Yifan pay for her weak kingside as Black. (Do pay heed to how Yifan looks after her innate d5-square and d6-pawn weaknesses.)<\/li>\n<li><strong>The dicey Alapin<\/strong>. White sure challenges Black\u2019s c5-pawn and also aims for center control. Is it worth it? The White knight can\u2019t go to c3 now! What to do when the Black queen gets harried across the board? Get the answers inside.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rare lines in the Anti-Sicilians<\/strong>. Don\u2019t want to go for the popular Anti-Sicilians such as the Alapin, Moscow, Rossolimo, or the Smith-Morra Gambit? No worries. You learn rare sidelines too, for example, 2.b3.<\/li>\n<li><strong>6.N1c3 blown out of the water!<\/strong>\u00a0Dubov\u2019s opponent made the mistake of playing 6.N1c3 and fell prey to Black\u2019s a6-b5 pushback. Learn how Dubov pressured White into sacrificing one pawn after another and end up losing the game.<\/li>\n<li><strong>White\u2019s 3.Bb5 punished<\/strong>. The move wants to capitalize on the White knight being on g1\u2014and prepare for a kingside expansion with f2-f4. Not so fast, homeboy! See how Black can literally bring the sting out for a quick kill like Aronian in a 2016 match against Luldachev.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Sicilian Defense is easily one of the hardest openings to master\u2014especially when you are playing an \u201copen\u201d line like the Kalashnikov!<\/p>\n<p><strong>It has a 62.2% win (or draw) rate against White.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>But you got to do it right though. That\u2019s where this training will come in handy.<\/p>\n<h3>Meet the Author<\/h3>\n<p><strong>GM Misa Pap (FIDE 2521)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Is a self-made Serbian Grandmaster. He is a winner of 16 international tournaments with 2600+ performance, former youth Champion of Yugoslavia and 3-times Champion of Vojvodina. GM Pap is a regular participant of the European Chess League and has over 15 years of coaching experience. He is also a regular contributor to Chess Informant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To make it easier for you, GM Misa Pap brought in his 10-hour video training on the Sicilian Kalashnikov-where he covers the main ideas behind Black&#8217;s setup, the positional opportunities, the dangers lurking behind, and helps you prepare a deep and thorough repertoire for those willing to play the line as Black.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":31179,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v16.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Sicilian Defense: Kalashnikov Variation with GM Misa Pap - 365Chess<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/shop\/sicilian-defense-kalashnikov-variation-with-gm-misa-pap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sicilian Defense: Kalashnikov Variation with GM Misa Pap - 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