Boekelman - The Modernized O’Kelly Sicilian

The Modernized O’Kelly Sicilian by Jan Boekelman. The author has produced you with a playable repertoire out of a somewhat sideline Opening, which nobody dared to touch to make it into an entire repertoire. This book offers you to :

•  Try to expand your knowledge in the 3.c3 variation and go beyond the book’s content
•  Deepen your knowledge in 3.c4 variation and do not play it before you know it well
•  Finally, follow the very strong GM Vladislav Artemiev, who has had a relatively successful run with this opening in rapid online events.

" Writing forewords is usually a routine task. The person who writes the foreword
introduces the subject matter and how the author’s contribution ties into the subject
matter. It is common for the author and the person who writes the foreword
to know each other quite well. But in this case, I have never met Jan Boekelman
from the Netherlands therefore I must skip the usual comments about the author
and discuss the author’s text.
The content had a profound enough impact on me that I decided to add the O'Kelly
to my repertoire within a short period of time when participating in my first luckless
US championship this year. While I lost both of my games to Super GM Sam
Shankland and one of the best players in the world, GM Wesley So, the outcome of
both openings was more than satisfactory for me. Given that I only added the
O'Kelly as a surprise weapon for one game, it was pretty remarkable that it worked
the second time since GM So could easily have anticipated facing it.
You are in for a treat. Jan Boekelman is either a chess enthusiast who likes to learn
different openings in-depth, a very competitive player or a bit of both. In either case
Jan has provided you with a playable repertoire out of a somewhat sideline of an
opening. This is something which no one has dared to attempt before.
I offer the following suggestions to maximize your benefit from this book.
1. Try to expand your knowledge in the 3.c3 variation and go beyond the book's
content.
2. Deepen your knowledge in the 3.c4 variation and do not play it before you know
it well.
3. Study the games of super GM Vladislav Artemiev as he has had a relatively
successful run with this opening in rapid online events.
Generally, I am a man of few words, which also applies to this foreword. I hope you
find as much fun as I had while reading this book and learn the nuances of
this opening while enjoying the newest evaluation of modern engines in this
opening! "
GM Elshan Moradiabadi
Durham, North Carolina, United States of America, October 2022.