A life-long Sozin devotee explains the subtleties of this aggressive system for White. The Sozin Attack is White’s most overtly aggressive counter to the Sicilian. White puts his bishop on c4, and often follows up with direct play against the black king. Unless Black defends with the utmost precision, the bishop’s influence often fuels a deadly attack leading to a cascade of sacrifices and a brutal king-hunt. The Sozin set-up can be employed against the Classical Sicilian, the Najdorf and even the Scheveningen. This book presents in detail the theory of the Sozin in all its forms, including the razor-sharp Velimirovic Attack.
Mikhail Golubev is a young grandmaster from Odessa, Ukraine, who plays regularly in tournaments in eastern and central Europe, and who has employed the Sozin with devastating effect throughout the whole of his adult chess career. Here he explains how White carries out the attack, while providing detailed, objective coverage. He is a noted expert in several sharp and aggressive opening systems, including the King’s Indian and the Dragon. His first book, Easy Guide to the Dragon, has been praised for the quantity and quality of its original analysis, and for Golubev’s objectivity in identifying the critical lines. See also Understanding the King's Indian.

"The Sozin (Bc4 in the open Sicilian) is a sharp opening but with a solid positional basis. It was a favourite of Bobby Fischer and the value of learning it from white's point of view is that you can play it against more than one variation of the Sicilian. I am basically very impressed by the depth and accuracy of the analysis, and sensitivity to move order issues...this is a good opening book and highly recommended. " GM Jonathan Rowson

"Recommended for the cavemen among you and anyone who plays the Sicilian who wishes to avoid being mated quickly!" - Danny Gormally, WEEKEND CHESS

"The Sozin (basically 6.Bc4 in the open Sicilian) has always been one of my own favourite lines, so I was very excited to receive this book, written by a leading Sozin practitioner. I was not disappointed, in fact it exceeded my hopes." - Phil Adams, CHECKPOINT

"The heart of the book is the coverage of Bc4 versus the Najdorf (dubbed the Fischer Attack where Golubev likes 5...a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Nbd7!) and the Sozin and Velimirovic Attacks. These chapters take up almost 200 pages and are filled with detailed coverage including a lot of original analysis. The Sicilian Sozin is must reading for those who play either side of this fascinating opening" - John Donaldson, BLITZ CHESS

"...as a reference work for serious players it will prove invaluable" - Alan Sutton, EN PASSANT

"Contains a massive amount of up-to-date analysis" - Paul Dunn, AUSTRALIAN CHESS FORUM

"A fine work" - J J Walsh, IRISH TIMES

"The Fischer Attack is discussed in great details in a recent Michael Golubov's work The Sicilian Sozin, another Gambit Publications book. It has a nice introductory chapter on history of all 5.Bc4 variations and the current trends as well as some original analysis that may profit tournament players." - GM Lubosh Kavalek, WASHINGTON POST

Download a pdf file with a sample from the book.