The Velimirovic Attack is one of the most direct attempts to tear apart Black’s Sicilian defense. White usually castles on the queenside, while Black either leaves the king in the center or castles on the kingside. As usual in sharp Open Sicilians, White must know well when he should make positional concessions or material sacrifices in exchange for getting tactical chances. 
Black’s strategy is quite simple. He will try to hold together his king position, make sound positional decisions and has full faith that he will have a good endgame (should he reach it). Sometimes, Black will also start a counter attack against White’s monarch on the queenside. However, as we will see in this challenge, things can become quite complicated.
———————————————————
Our starting position typically arises after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 (or 2…d6 and 5…Nc6). You should now look for an aggressive way to develop your remaining pieces.

6.Be2 is one of the many fine moves in this position. By placing this bishop on e2, White usually prepares kingside castling. If Black then played 6…e5, we would be in a Boleslavsky, while 6…e6 should lead to a Scheveningen. Very good, now look for another good bishop move.

6.Bc4 is the move that leads to the Velimirovic attack. Note that c4 is a more aggressive post than the e2-square, when play would lead to a Boleslavsky after 6…e5 and to a Scheveningen after 6…e6. White can also play 6.Bg5, which leads to a Richter-Rauzer. All of these systems are examined in other challenges.

6…e6 is solid and is the most popular move. Note that the e-pawn now blocks the vision of the c4-bishop. In contrast 6…e5? would hand White full control of the d5-square and gives the c4-bishop pressure against Black’s f7-pawn. If Black instead opts for 6…Qb6, we would reach the Anti-Velimirovic line, which we will also learn in another challenge.
———————————————————
In many Open Sicilians Black hopes to keep full coverage of the center with the pawn duo on d6 and e6. One of White’s tasks will be to undermine this pawn duo.

7.Nxc6 bxc6 is good for Black on positional terms. The c6-pawn then controls part of the center (d5), while the half-open b-file also promises nice counter play. Sometimes White tries to disrupt Black’s position with 8.e5. Black should then continue with 8…Nd5.

7.Bg5 appears to be the most aggressive way to develop this bishop. But g5 is not the most promising post for it. White does not want to take the f6-knight later. His main idea in the Velimirovic is to generate a pawn storm on the kingside. The bishop on g5 would then be in the way. Play could continue with 7…Qb6 8.Nb3 a6 9.Qe2 Be7. Now look for a better square for this piece.

7.Be3 develops a new piece and is the most popular move along with 7.Bb3. Both 7.Bb3 and 7.0-0 would probably lead to the Sozin. After 7.Be3, Black now knows to expect the sharp Velimirovic Attack.

7…Be7 gets the dark-squared bishop to its only square and allows Black to castle kingside whenever that may become desirable. Sometimes Black delays this move by playing 7…a6, but play will usually transpose.
———————————————————
White has now developed all minor pieces and should contemplate next what to do with the king and the heavy pieces.

8.Qd2?! appears to be the natural square for the queen in this system. However, on d2 the queen would not control the g4- square. Black could quickly take advantage of this by playing 8…Ng4 and gaining the bishop pair next. The queen would also be in the way of a rook on d1. Now look for a better square for the lady.

8.Qf3?! is a bit awkward, as it allows Black to play …Ne5 at the right time. Don’t expose your lady to such attacks.

8.Qe2 is the best way to improve the position of the queen and prepare queenside castling at the same time. One may wonder why the queen is better placed on e2 than on d2. On d2, the queen would not control the g4-square. Black could quickly take advantage of this by playing 8…Ng4 and gain the bishop pair next. On e2, the queen will also not be in the way of a White rook on the d-file. Note that all 8.0-0, 8.Bb3 and 8.f4 are good moves, but will probably lead to the Sozin instead.

8…a6 is a key move in most Open Sicilians for Black. Controlling the b5-square is very important when Black is preparing to move his queen to c7. Otherwise a knight could pose great problems by moving to b5. Black may later also want to advance the b-pawn to b5.
———————————————————
White is usually ahead in piece development in Open Sicilians. His piece activity is his main weapon to combat Black’s better pawn structure.

Castling kingside with 9.0-0 is quite harmless after playing 8.Qe2, because White wouldn’t move the lady to e2 in the Sozin. We prefer a different haven for White’s king in this challenge.

9.0-0-0 opts for queenside castling. This is not without risk as Black will try his best to attack your monarch on this side of the board. But now White can advance the kingside pawns without exposing a king placed on that side of the board. Note that 9.Bb3 often transposes later on.

9…Qc7 moves the lady out of the potentially dangerous d-file now that White’s queenside rook is on d1. From c7, the queen casts an eye on the loose bishop on c4 and will try to aid a queenside offense.
———————————————————
You cannot just look at what you would like to do next. You must always try to anticipate your opponent’s best moves and how that would affect the position.

10.Bb3 is not an easy move to find, but is White’s best chance to fight for an advantage. On c4, the bishop was subject to attacks by Black pawns on b5 and d5 and also required White’s queen to keep an eye on it. If 10.f4 instead, chances are roughly even following 10…Nxd4 11.Rxd4 0-0 12.Bb3 b5 13.g4 e5.

10…Na5 is often part of Black’s repertoire against the Velimirovic. From a5, this knight can next capture White’s light- squared bishop any time and also aids the advance of the b-pawn better than it would from c6. Black’s main alternative is castling kingside, which leads to very different positions than our line. Following 10…0-0 11.Rhg1 Nd7 12.g4 Nc5 13.g5 Bd7 14.Rg3 Rfc8 15.Qh5 g6 16.Qh6 Bf8, White’s chances on the kingside are slightly more promising than Black’s on the queenside.
———————————————————
Note that White has committed his king while Black is still delaying that decision.

11.Kb1 does improve the position of the king and gives White the interesting option to recapture with the c2-pawn on b3 should Black take the bishop soon. Play could continue with 11…b5 12.f3 and roughly equal chances. Now look for a way to get your kingside plans going.

11.h3? is not useful here. If you tried to prepare g4, you should not be so cautious.

11.f3 is sometimes played later and is often unnecessary in the early stages of the Velimirovic. Look for a more active plan to reduce the pressure against your e4-pawn.

11.g4 launches the kingside pawn storm. White’s first goal is to push back the well-placed knight on f6. Later he will look to open some files leading to Black’s king. Alternatives such as 11.Rhg1 or 11.f3 are too slow to cause Black any problems. Note that 11.Kb1 gives White the interesting option to recapture with the c2-pawn on b3 should Black take the bishop soon. Play could continue with 11…b5 12.f3 and roughly equal chances.

11…b5 starts Black’s counter play on the queenside. Play would likely transpose after 11…Nxb3+, while other moves are too slow. Please note that 11…e5? seems to attack both the d4-knight and the g4-pawn. But with 12.Nf5, White takes care of both threats at once and gets the better position.
———————————————————
The race for the initiative has begun.

12.Bg5? loses valuable time by moving the well-placed bishop again. Since taking on f6 will not be much of a threat, your bishop on g5 would actually be in the way of the pawn storm on the kingside.

12.f3 is sometimes played later and is often unnecessary in the early stages of the Velimirovic. Look for a more active plan to reduce the pressure against your e4-pawn.

12.Qf3? moves the queen again only to protect the e4-pawn. This is awkward and loses precious time. Black would have a nice position after 12…Nxb3+ and 13…Bb7.

12.g5 pushes back Black’s f6-knight before Black can think about playing …b5-b4 next and then gaining the e4-pawn with …Nxe4.

12…Nxb3+ takes White’s bishop with check before it can cause any harm. Note that the logical 12…Nd7? moves the knight in the way of the bishop on c8 and allows White to sacrifice his bishop for three pawns with 13.Bxe6! fxe6 14.Nxe6 Qc4 15.Nxg7+ to follow. White would then have a very strong attack against Black’s wandering king, e.g., 15…Kf8 16.Qh5! Kxg7 17.Bd4+. Remember this motif, it occurs quite frequently in Open Sicilians.
———————————————————
An important strategic decision must be made.

13.Nxb3?! is harmless and gives Black a fine position following 13…Nd7 14.f4 Bb7 15.a3 Nc5. White’s knight on b3 becomes a target in this line and taking on c5 would only help Black.

Clearly 13.cxb3? is a poor move as it opens the c-file and thus pins the c3-knight to White’s king. Black could then steal a pawn with 13…Nxe4.

13.axb3 is the best capture. The pawn on b3 will later be able to protect a White piece. Note that 13.Nxb3?! is harmless and gives Black a fine position following 13…Nd7 14.f4 Bb7 15.a3 Nc5. White’s knight on b3 then becomes a target in this line and taking on c5 would only help Black. Clearly 13.cxb3? is a poor move as it opens the c-file and thus pins the c3-knight to White’s king. Black could then steal a pawn with 13…Nxe4.

13…Nd7 moves the attacked knight to the only good square. From d7, this horse can soon participate in the attack on the queenside.
———————————————————
White can choose from several plans now.

14.h4 aims to support the g5-pawn in its mission to undermine Black’s pawn structure on the kingside. This is the most popular plan nowadays. The spectacular knight sacrifice 14.Nf5!? exf5 15.Nd5 gives White good compensation for the piece, but is considered roughly equal following 15…Qd8 16.exf5 Bb7 17.f6 and a messy position. 

Note that White also has a promising opening novelty in 14.Bd2!? to look at here. Black should then probably refrain from 14…b4? 15.Nd5 exd5 16.exd5 with good compensation for the piece. Instead 14…Bb7 would control the key d5-square again. White should then continue with the same plan as in our line. One could make an argument that Black would be worse than in our line as the light-squared bishop is supposed to go d7 in this system.

14…b4 quickly tries to push White’s c3-knight away from the central post, so that White no longer has the option to play the messy knight sacrifice Nf5 anymore. The weaker 14…Bb7 15.f3 b4 16.Na4 has worked well for White.
———————————————————
Again White doesn’t have many good choices.

15.Na4 is by far the most popular choice. One of the advantages of this move is that White can now try to slow down Black’s queenside attack by stepping in the way of Black’s natural plan …a6-a5-a4 and opening the a-file. White has also tried the obscure 15.Na2, when play was complicated following 15…a5 16.Nb5 Qb8 17.Qd3 Ra6 18.Qc4 Nc5 19.Kb1. Instead 15.Nb1 has hardly been considered. We believe this is because of 15…Nc5 16.Nd2 Bb7 17.f3 d5!

15…Nc5 immediately gets this hard working knight back to action. Developing the light-squared bishop to the long diagonal with 15…Bb7 instead has worked well for White after 16.f3 Qa5 17.Kb1 Nc5 18.h5.
———————————————————
Even though tactics are predominant, you should never lose sight of positional aspects that could give you a better ending.

16.Nxc5? removes Black’s strong knight and thus takes away the pressure against the e4-pawn. But the cure is worse than the problem. After 16…dxc5 17.Nf3 a5 18.Nd2 a4 Black has a quick attack while your efforts on the kingside are frozen.

16.Nf3? moves the nicely centralized knight to a poor square where it gets in the way of the White queen and the pawn on f2. To make matters worse, Black could now win a pawn with 16…Nxb3+. Note that the c2-pawn is pinned to White’s king on c1.

16.g6? is much too impatient. Following 16…hxg6, your attack would be over before it started.

16.Bf4?? loses a piece to the pawn fork 16…e5.

16.h5 is White’s best chance for an advantage. White needs this h-pawn to be on h5 in order to play the desired pawn break g5-g6 at the right time. If White instead protected the attacked e4-pawn with 16.f3, chances would be roughly even following 16…Bd7 17.Kb1 Bxa4 18.bxa4 Nxa4 19.h5 and then either 19…0-0 or 19…Nc5. Much worse for White would be 16.Nxc5?, when …dxc5 17.Nf3 a5 18.Nd2 a4 gives Black a quick attack while your efforts on the kingside are frozen. 
Following 16.h5, Black usually refuses to take the e4-pawn with 16…Nxe4 as 17.g6 then gives White a strong initiative. Black should instead continue with 16…Bd7, when winning a pawn with 17…Nxb3+ 18.Nxb3 Bxa4 is a threat. Therefore White will typically move the king off the c-file with 17.Kb1. Then 17…Bxa4 18.bxa4 Qb7 19.g6 Bf6 20.f3 Rc8 21.b3 with an edge for White was played in Wolff-D.Gurevich (1990). Since then Black has improved with 20…Nxa4, when 21.Qc4 0-0 22.gxf7+ leads to a drawish endgame. In this line White can also consider 19.f3. The game Berndt-De Firmian (2000) continued with 19…Nxa4 20.Qc4 0-0 21.Qc6 Nc5 22.Qxb7 Nxb7 23.Nc6 and White reached a slightly better ending. If Black plays 20…Rc8 instead in this line, White’s idea must be to play 21.Qa2 Nc5 22.g6. 
We saw in some of the above lines how quickly the positions can change and endgames can be reached. Often a strong player will try to attack the opponent’s king only to force a weakness and then abandon his original course and head into a favorable endgame. This may seem illogical, but is a good practical and safe decision since one often pays a high price if the attack against the opponent’s king is unsuccessful. In this line we noticed how White waited a long time before he protected the e4-pawn. White doesn’t mind sacrificing the e4-pawn as he can move ahead with g5-g6 and his attack while Black is unable to open the a-file leading to White’s king. Once Black’s knight takes on e4, White will have to watch out for the dangerous knight sacrifice …Nc3+, however.

Note how quickly Black’s f6- knight became an attacking force on the queenside and the fact that Black’s uncastled king is not that easy to get to. In general chances in this complicated line are roughly even. Should you not like this system for White, you have many alternatives to choose from at move 6 and 7.