“Outstandingly impressive… Ftacnik is of course one of the world’s leading theoreticians, and presents a complete repertoire for Black, based on the Najdorf… a remarkably fine job.”

Steve Giddins, British Chess Magazine

“It’s no surprise Ftacnik, who is a life-time expert on the Sicilian Najdorf, was selected for the task to write the part on the Sicilian in the excellent series published by Quality Chess. The Sicilian Defence offers a complete repertoire against 1.e4 for the serious chess player. Its original approach (all chapters are named after famous movies!) and Ftacnik’s enthusiastic style of writing add to the general picture that this is an excellent guide for anyone who wants to start playing the Sicilian…

My conclusion is that Ftacnik, while presenting a stunningly high-level opening book, still doesn’t convincingly solve the problem of 6.Bg5 (though possibly that’s because the problem simply doesn’t have a solution!). This criticism notwithstanding, The Sicilian Defence is, of course, a wonderful opening book… This is a book all lovers of the Sicilian (both White and Black) will thoroughly enjoy. It provides food for thought for many years to come.”

Arne Moll, ChessVibes (full review)