Rossolimo Rampage: Crush the 2...Nc6 Sicilians - IM Alexander Kra...

Opening course on the Rossolimo by IM Alexander Krastev
Includes video and PGN

Language: English
Lectures: 17
Total Running Time: 17 hours 53 minutes

From the course:

Humiliate Black’s Sharpest Sicilians with
This 2-Step Bishop Burying Sequence

When Black meets your 1.e4 with 1…c5 and 2…Nc6, you’re suddenly staring at a minefield. The Sveshnikov can roll your king flat under a pawn storm. The Classical can grind you into dust in a long endgame. And the Four Knights? That one’s a tactical circus, where getting clowned is lethal. But here’s the good news — you only need 2 moves to shut them all down!


First, you drop your bishop on b5. Then you snap off the knight on the very next move.

And just like that, you lock up Black’s bishop behind their own pawns...

…while you dance on squares where Black’s bishop can’t follow — and enjoy your virtual extra piece!

This is the Rossolimo Variation.

And if this sounds like your kind of chess — clear, strategic, minus the constant dread that an axe is about to drop…

…then you’ll love Rossolimo Rampage: Crush the 2...Nc6 Sicilians by International Master Alexander Krastev.

Krastev is a 3-time German Youth Champion and the 2021 European U16 Champion.

He's also a lifelong 1.e4 player. And against the Sicilian, Bb5-systems like the Rossolimo Variation are his specialty.

His command of these lines is all-encompassing. It carried him to victory over a 2739-rated super-GM at one of the biggest events in world chess.

But the best thing about Krastev?

He doesn’t just know the Rossolimo. He knows how to teach it…

Enabling You Play It with Confidence, While
Skipping the Long Years of Trial and Error

This course itself is proof!

In the first chapter — Understanding the Rossolimo — Krastev sharpens your strategic thinking and pawn play... the very foundations which make the Rossolimo work.

Among many things, you’ll learn:

✅ Why the …d7–d5 break — Black’s thematic freeing move in other Sicilians — can backfire in the Rossolimo.

✅ The dos and don’ts of pushing e4-e5. One detail can mean the difference between Black seizing an open file, or you securing a strategically won game.

✅ How to turn Black’s bishop into a bystander with the Capablanca rule, while your minor pieces run the show.

✅ Plus the Rossolimo’s key developing moves. They place your pieces on strong squares, while keeping your pawns flexible. So when Black commits to a setup, you switch gears and hit them where it hurts.

After laying down the opening’s strategic foundation, Krastev fills in the gaps with 3 Quickstarter guides.

Quickstarter #1 shows you the most common lines you’ll face as a beginner. This way, you can start playing — and winning — with the Rossolimo without memorizing every single detail.

Quickstarter #2 covers Black’s most popular setups, starting with 3…e6 and 3…g6.

Then Quickstarter #3 prepares you for the sidelines that try to fix Black’s bishop — but end up wrecking their pawns!

With these Quickstarters, you’ll already feel like a Rossolimo expert — ready to punish anyone who dares to play 2…Nc6.

But if you want to go further…

If you want to raise this opening to master level and beyond, the rest of the course will take you there.

Here’s what you’re getting:

✅ 322 MoveTrainer lines and 18 hours of video covering virtually every line you could possibly encounter.

✅ 12 chapters organized by Black’s 3rd move. So if you know what your opponent plays, you can jump straight to the right chapter.

✅ Thematic exercises to hammer in the tactics and positional ideas, which make or break the Rossolimo.

✅ Plus 57 reference games showing you the lines in action — and how to turn them into wins.

By the end of this course, you’ll never again fear the Sveshnikov’s pawn storm, the Classical’s superior endgame, nor the Four Knights’ circus tricks.

With the Rossolimo’s 2-step bishop burying sequence, you’re not just stifling Black’s counterplay — you’re taking the game into strategic waters. One where you have a clear path to an edge.