Lifetime Repertoires Classical Sicilian by Sam Shankland

The Smart Player’s Move-By-Move Guide
To Winning Against 1.e4

If you’d love to fearlessly play and WIN against 1.e4…without having to put life on hold so you can study pages of opening theory, then we invite you to join Grandmaster Sam Shankland.

You already know Sam. The 2018 US Chess Champion brought us five-star opening courses based on smart move choices and practical yet ambitious strategies. These streamlined repertoires can blow away even elite-level grandmasters…while simple enough for time-strapped club players to learn.

This time, with the same eye for detail and time-efficient organization, GM Shankland turns his attention to the king’s pawn game. His recommendation?

Play The Uncompromising Yet Practical Classical Sicilian

Sam’s latest Lifetime Repertoireis a complete system versus 1.e4, with the Classical Sicilian at its core.

Your opening moves are simple and easy to remember.

First, fight for the center with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4. Next, bring the knights into play: 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6. And finally, fortify your stronghold with 6.Bg5 e6 followed by …Be7 and …Bd7.

From this airtight position free from any weakness, you’re ready to wrestle the FULL point from White, and Sam shows you exactly how its done.

But even better, you also sidestep razor-sharp lines, where one inaccuracy means instant death…as well as the “flashy” tactics that only fizzle to a dead-draw.

Forget about the Poisoned Pawn, Adams, English, and Keres Attacks, which make other Sicilians (i.e. Najdorf, Sveshnikov, Scheveningen) near-impossible to learn for busy club players.

You see, Sam has played the Classical Sicilian almost exclusively since 2020. He even defeated 2700-grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura and Leinier Dominguez along the way.

His experience “says” only two variations pose enough of a challenge to the Classical Sicilian: the Richter-Rauzer (6.Bg5) and the Fischer-Sozin Attack (6.Bc4) – and BOTH have been dealt with in the course!

Against the Richter-Rauzer, GM Shankland arms you with counterpunching plans, including…

🎯 A multi-purpose pawn move that bullies the g5-bishop and takes away invasion squares from the enemy queen.

🎯 The …b7-b5-b4 thrust which sucks the energy out of e4-e5, while securing the d5-square for your knight.

🎯 And rarely played rook moves that transform your doubled f-pawns into a dynamic asset.

Against the Fischer-Sozin Attack, Sam gives you a step-by-step blueprint for playing against that misplaced bishop on c4. With precise play, you’ll reach a pleasant endgame with the bishop pair. Best part? You get a clinic on how to WIN this ending.

But Lifetime Repertoires: Classical Sicilian won’t be complete if it only handled those two variations.

Inside the course, you’ll also find counters to every pet line possible after 1.e4. From early fianchetto systems, the Alapin with 2.c3, the Moscow Variation with 3.Bb5+, the Closed Sicilian, to second-move sidelines you almost never find in books.