Najdorf Variation It is astonishing that today’s most important system in the Sicilian starts with the unlikely move 5...a6. The systems given below are usually classified along with White's second move alternatives as Anti-Sicilians. Black develops the knight to a natural square and keeps options open regarding the placement of the other pieces. Capablanca, World Champion from 1921 to 1927, famously denounced it as an opening where "Black's game is full of holes". Now White can play 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nf3, when Black has a choice between 5...e6 and 5...Nc6. Top players who have used this variation include Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov, Teimour Radjabov, Boris Gelfand, Michael Adams and Alexander Khalifman, among many others. 3.c4 transposes into the Symmetrical English. "[18] Freeborough and Ranken, in their treatise Chess Openings: Ancient and Modern (1889, 1896), wrote that the Sicilian "had at one time the reputation of being the best reply to 1.P-K4, but this has not been confirmed by popular practice. Semi-Open Games Sicilian Defence. [2], 17% of all games between grandmasters, and 25% of the games in the Chess Informant database, begin with the Sicilian. However, a recent development in the Sveshnikov has been 11.c4 (instead of c3), which often leads to positions where White is pressing for the win at no risk. In all cases, White can then play 3.Nf3, as if White had played 2.Nf3 then 3.Nc3 (e.g. The Najdorf Variation is Black's most popular system in the Sicilian Defence. White could also protect the pawn on e4 with 5.Bd3 which also allows the option of setting up a Maróczy Bind formation with a later c2-c4, or interpose a check with 5.Bb5+ Nbd7 6.Bd3 or 5.Bb5+ Bd7 6.Bxd7+ Nbxd7. This is a logical continuation of the 2nd reason. The Sicilian Defense is the most frequently used defense from club players to Grandmasters. In a previous Q post, it referenced the entire thing as chess. These earlier games focused on the Löwenthal Variation (similar to the Kalashnikov but the reply to 5.Nb5 is 5...a6) with 4...e5 5.Nb5 a6 6.Nd6+ Bxd6 7.Qxd6 Qf6, where Black gives up the two bishops to achieve a lead in development. 2.e5, which gains space and prevents Black playing ...Nf6. It is played at every level, from beginners to the absolute elite and there is probably no strong player who has not tried it at least once. After 6.e5! a "small center" with pawns on d6 and e6. Or, Black can delay bringing out the knight in favour of playing ...Be7–g5 or a quick ...f5. In this, the last of three volumes on 1.e4, GM John Shaw completes his state-of-the-art chess opening repertoire for White by tackling the main lines of the Sicilian Defense. In the Dragon Variation, Black fianchettoes a bishop on the h8–a1 diagonal. When White does play 5.Nc3, it is usually with the idea of continuing 5...Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Bb3 (forestalling any tricks involving ...Nxe4 and ...d5), followed by kingside castling. Sicilian Defense, Closed Variation, Traditional (B25) Opening Colour: Played: 10499: Player Wins: 32.10%: Draw: 25.50%: Opponent Wins: 42.40%: Opening Comments; Popularity Graph; Submit Cancel. Experts in this line include GMs Sergei Rublevsky and Tomáš Oral. An alternative plan is to play 10...Bg7 followed by ...Ne7 to immediately trade off White's powerful knight; this line is known as the Novosibirsk Variation. Black can avoid the Prins Variation by playing 3...Nf6, when 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 transposes to main lines. Nf3 - Chess Opening explorer. Instead of 6...e6, Black can also try Benko's move 6...Qb6, which forces White to make a decision over the d4-knight. This generally leads to unbalanced positions and usually leaves black with a central pawn majority after trading his c-pawn for White's … Its rejection by Morphy in 1857–8, and by Steinitz in 1862, caused it again to lapse in consideration as not being a perfectly valid and reliable defence. White intends to drive away the black knight with g5. This allows White to maintain the knight on d5 by trading off Black's knight on f6, and prepares to bring the knight on a3 back into play with the manoeuvre Na3–c2–e3. 7 (SICILIAN DEFENCE By L.m. However, 1...c5 does little for Black's development, unlike moves such as 1...e5, 1...g6, or 1...Nc6, which either develop a minor piece or prepare to do so. Today, it is extremely popular among grandmasters and amateurs alike. Beat the Najdorf and Taimanov Sicilians. White's pressure on the d6-pawn often compels Black to respond to Bxf6 with ...gxf6, rather than recapturing with a piece (e.g. For example, if White tries to play in the style of the Yugoslav Attack with 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2, 8...d5! [1] New In Chess stated in its 2000 Yearbook that of the games in its database, White scored 56.1% in 296,200 games beginning 1.d4, but 54.1% in 349,855 games beginning 1.e4, mainly because the Sicilian held White to a 52.3% score in 145,996 games. The line 2...Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 resembles Alekhine's Defence, but the inclusion of the moves c3 and ...c5 is definitely in Black's favour. White aims to set up a classical pawn centre with 3.d4, so Black should counter immediately in the centre by 2...Nf6 or 2...d5. In the ninth edition of Modern Chess Openings, Walter Korn noted that the Sicilian "received three of its earliest practical tests, and a big boost in popularity, in the 1834 MacDonnell [sic]–La Bourdonnais match, 1843 Staunton–St. The Rossolimo Variation, 3.Bb5, is a well-respected alternative to 3.d4. As you play aggressive lines you always get … The other main line is 2...d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3, when Black's main options are 5...e6 and 5...Bg4. f6 7.Ne5! The Sicilian Defense is widely considered the best defense against white's e4 opening move. The difference between the two variations is that Black has not developed the knight to f6 and White has not brought the knight to c3, so both players have extra options. Nc3 is a common response to Sicilian as well. Another option for Black is to play what has been called the "Dragodorf", which combines ideas from the Dragon with those of the Najdorf Variation . SBN 90084608-9.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link), Position after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3, Najdorf Variation: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6, Dragon Variation: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6, Classical Variation: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6, Scheveningen Variation: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6, Position after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4, Sveshnikov Variation: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5, Chelyabinsk Variation: 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5, Accelerated Dragon: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6, Kalashnikov Variation: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6, Taimanov Variation: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6, Kan Variation: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6, Four Knights Variation: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6, Pin Variation: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4, Moscow Variation: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+, Rossolimo Variation: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5, Hyper-Accelerated Dragon: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6, Nimzowitsch–Rubinstein Variation: 2...Nf6, Closed Sicilian (Main line): 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6, Closed Sicilian (Grand Prix Attack): 1.e4 c5 2.f4, Four Knights Variation: 4...Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6, 2.Nf3 without 3.d4: White's third move alternatives, "Steinitz, throughout his life, had a certain dislike of the Sicilian. 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