https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?board=AntiSicilians Anti-Sicilians - ChessPub Forum en-us ChessPub Forum Sat, 11 Jul 2026 18:11:21 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 30 https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1757694671 ChessPub Forum/Anti-Sicilians https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1757694671 Mon, 15 Sep 2025 07:10:16 GMT I confess I've never been clear about when dxc5 might be good in Advance French style positions -- I have the impression this can be a tough one even for very strong players! But here after 7 ...Bc5 8 0-0 f6 9 Qe2 fe Black seems to do OK, though there are very few games. (The engine much prefers this for Black to 7 0-0 Rc8 8 dc, which might indicate my III(a) line above is inferior?)<br /><br />Incidentally ChessPublishing's own Michael Roiz has had this position (7 dc) as Black, the game continuing 7 ...Bc5 8 Nbd2 f6. https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1732165866 ChessPub Forum/Anti-Sicilians https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1732165866 Wed, 26 Feb 2025 23:17:58 GMT I checked both links. Very interesting! I liked the first link better than the second. Thanks! Will try it in my games. https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1732771212 ChessPub Forum/Anti-Sicilians https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1732771212 Thu, 28 Nov 2024 05:20:12 GMT Just some historical notes.<br /><br />In the latest Anti-Sicilians update, IM Palliser refers to this line as an old suggestion of Joe Gallagher (who as I recall advocated it in an anti-anti-Sicilians book in the '90s). In one of the games in the update, the "tricky recent try" 7. e5"?!" was played, and well-met by 7...e6"!".<br /><br />This took me back to Ken Smith's 1972 book <i>Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted</i>. It gave 6...a6 as "the move, or should I say the order of moves, recommended by MCO-10th Edition [from 1965, revised by Larry Evans]."<br /><br />Smith (translated from descriptive): "One source recommended here 7. e5 and on 7...dxe5 (7...Nxe5? 8. Nxe5 dxe5 9. Bxf7+!) 8. Qxd8+ Nxd8 (8...Kxd8 9. Ng5 Nh6 10. Bxf7!) 9. Nd5 Ne6 10. Nb6 Rb8 11. Nxe5 Nf6 12. Nxf7 Kxf7 13. Bf4 White wins. Which is worth a try against an unsuspecting opponent. But if you are ever Black and someone plays 7. e5 just answer 7...e6!."<br /><br />Smith recommended 7. 0-0 Nf6 8. Bg5 e6 9. Qe2. He didn't mention 9...h6, which he faced from Evans later in 1972, at the San Antonio international tournament. Evans won decisively. Some years later Evans had this comment: "Either you have faith in Black's position or you don't. I'll take the pawn any day of the week."<br /><br />Some video from the San Antonio tournament:<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWVUm8Qg5H8" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWVUm8Qg5H8</a> https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1710577123 ChessPub Forum/Anti-Sicilians https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1710577123 Sat, 16 Mar 2024 08:18:43 GMT A good read (free Ebook) with many games' analysis is "Gagner avec Zébulon". https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1578674150 ChessPub Forum/Anti-Sicilians https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1578674150 Mon, 20 Nov 2023 16:53:13 GMT Some Najdorf players *do* play 2.Nc3 Nc6. Whether that is due to ignorance or enlightenment varies widely.<br /><br />Gallagher (1994) <i>Beating The Anti-Sicilians</i> relates that he would "play the man": against De Firmian it was 2...d6 3.Nge2 Nf6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6, whereas against Hebden it was 2...Nc6 when Hebden "with a cheeky grin" would answer 3.Nf3 and 4.d4 -- "no Najdorf today".<br /><br />As white I played the 2.Nc3/3.f4 Grand Prix a lot, and while the 2...d6 3.f4 version is "better" for white than the 2...Nc6 3.f4 version, fundamentally black is fine in either case. There are/were some top-level Najdorf practitioners who regularly play/played 2.Nc3 d6. Gelfand and MVL come to mind. https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1679224215 ChessPub Forum/Anti-Sicilians https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1679224215 Sat, 22 Jul 2023 13:15:08 GMT I have tried the line as black in both over the board and in Correspondence Chess and the line is actually not silly at all. Black gets good play. In practical over the board many declines the gambit. https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1678971590 ChessPub Forum/Anti-Sicilians https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1678971590 Tue, 23 May 2023 11:58:54 GMT This line has the added benefit that Black can play it regardless of his mainline Sicilien (in case of 2.c3), e.g. <b>1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cd 5.cd</b> and only now <b>5...e6</b>. https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1656900741 ChessPub Forum/Anti-Sicilians https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1656900741 Fri, 8 Jul 2022 16:46:47 GMT 4.Qd3,Nf6 5.Nc3,e6 6.Bf4,a6 is the start of one recent source, deemed slightly better for Black, though there are many more moves to be played. https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1636532056 ChessPub Forum/Anti-Sicilians https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1636532056 Thu, 11 Nov 2021 12:04:23 GMT It's too bad we can't enter a search string into the engine with the command: "At this position: Search always for black's best reply, but ignore losing and drawing lines for white. For white, search only for winning lines. Infinite analysis."<br /><br />Make sure your PC has the latest AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX 2.7 GHz 64-Core sWRX8 Processor (64 cores! IIRC, Stockfish can handle 64 cores. Only U.S. $5,399,99 - plus needed heat sink, board, etc.) <br />Than go visit your poor old mum for the weekend and come back later to check.  <img rel=";D" src="https://www.chesspub.com/yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/grin.gif" alt="Grin" title="Grin" /> https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1626568217 ChessPub Forum/Anti-Sicilians https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1626568217 Wed, 1 Sep 2021 11:52:04 GMT <a href="https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1626568217/7#7">Keano wrote</a> on 09/01/21 at 02:35:07:<br /><div id="1E30343B3A5500">2...e6<br /><br />but not the best open sicilian <img rel=";&#45;&#41;" src="https://www.chesspub.com/yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/wink.gif" alt="Wink" title="Wink" /> </div><!--1E30343B3A5500--><br /><br /><a href="https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1626568217/6#6">katar wrote</a> on 07/20/21 at 14:09:06:<br /><div id="3E342134275501">In my opinion, 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 limits White's options the most.  A wise philosopher once said:<br /><a href="https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1626568217/3#3">fjd wrote</a> on 07/18/21 at 11:55:08:<br /><div id="40432D02">- 2...e6 is a good choice if you don't mind having your pawn on e6 </div><!--3E342134275501--> </div><!--40432D02--><br /><br />I have reached the opposite conclusion and now avoid 2...e6 as Black. Both 3.c3 and 3.g3 are annoying lines to face, and 3.b3, 3.d3, 3.Nc3 and even 3.c4 are also playable (though less worrisome). So White's options aren't limited at all.<br /><br />But you could say this is a stylistic conclusion, a matter of taste rather than objective evaluation.<br /><br />The problem for most practical Black players is finding an Open Sicilian and a corresponding set of Anti-Sicilian lines that are not <i>too</i> far apart stylistically. If I play a solid, safety-first Open Sicilian (relatively speaking; some would say there is no such thing...) I don't want to allow crazy complications in the Anti-Sicilians, and vice versa.<br />So for instance, if you're a Najdorf or Dragon player out for blood, super-solid lines like the Moscow (2...d6 3.Bb5+) and the Prins (5.f3) may be a real headache. Though objectively 2...d6 is probably a very good move to counter Anti-Sicilians, if you're OK with some of them being a bit drawish.<br /><br />At the moment I play a couple of Open Sicilians that are both somewhere between razor-sharp and solid, and I've found both 2...Nc6 (allowing the Rossolimo and 3.c3) and 2...g6 are a good enough fit with that. Of course the move orders also need to work out.<br /><br />