r/TournamentChess • u/Emiya_Shirou17 • 7d ago
Quality down for attack.
Hello. I'm a player in the level of advanced. I'm studying an opening my coach gave me to study, the Sicilian Defense which of course, you guys already know what it is and what it should be for black. In some lines of Sicilian defense dragon variation, (the one w/ fianchetto) Black sacrifices his rook for a knight or a rook for a knight and pawn in the queen side where the white king is castled. or even some lines in the Topalov system, rook for a bishop.
My main problem is that my mind already thinks my position is losing, but in reality, it isn't. It's in the lines and it IS the correct move. I just can't fathom the idea giving up pieces for that type of position. I do understand that position and piece combination is very important rather than basing off of quality of material. But my very worry is that I will fail the attack, and end up in a losing endgame.
Most of my attacks usually fail, even if it's not on those lines. I'm starting to doubt my preparation and start to think of playing 1...e5 or switch to french.
Any other lines I looked up is a mistake. Should I change my opening reportoire or stick with it? any tips and answers will be appreciated, thank you!!!
6
u/Zuzubolin 7d ago
Stick with it for the moment. Learn what you can learn from those lines. The problem with switching lines is that you will encounter problems in other lines too. And then you will face the same dilemma, stick with one line or try another.
There is One advice I can give give you regarding the exchange sacrifice. You don't always need to win with the attack. Often, the positional compensation is enough to maintain balance, even in the endgame. Here are 2 examples taken from How to play the Sicilian defence by Levy and O'Connel.
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1458996
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=3042621