I faced the closed sicilian in a recent tournament. It was the Be3, Qd2 line: 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.d3 d6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.Be3
I usually play the Rogozenko ..e5 line, which on this occasion I thought was too solid for my mood.
Instead I played some tosh involving an ..e6, ..Nd4, ..Rb8, ..b6, ..Ba6 mish-mash. And just when I thought I'd equalized, I chucked my h-pawn forward (having not castled, and my knight still on g8 - having chased the Queen from h6) in some random attempt to attack. Maybe no opening would have suited this mood
As you might expect, my King got caught in the centre, and I dropped a pawn. End of game.
I have seen the idea 6..Nd4 with 7..Qa5 menioned, and it does seem popular, but can't find any reference to it in my usual sicil and anti-sicil books. It looks a good line, but can anyone say if it is dynamic or is it more a containing line?
Palliser give (from memory) ..Nf6 with ..Nd4 and a later ..e5. This looks both reasonable and having attacking chances. Would people agree that this is a both sound and good for playing for a win.
6..h5 is mentioned elsewhere. Although this has winning chances, it looks more suitable to Blitz chess, or with a pint in my hand. Maybe not really theoretically sound - despite a chapter having been written on it?
Also, does the move order trick of 5.Be3 before 6.Bg2 come into play against any of these variations?
Can anyone make comment on any of these options please?
If up against someone much the stronger, I will probably play the Rogozenko suggestion, but against own strength or less, what line retains good play and is theoretically sound?
cheers, Tickly