Adams and Anand have also played 3.b3 so I would totally trust it.  Larry Kaufman recommends it in his book - The Chess Advantage in Black and White, which received a very good review from John Watson.

One more idea is 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3!?.

I´ve played this several times in blitz games (I don´t play 1.e4 in tournament games anymore), it´s a nice surprise weapon against those stupid hedgehog devotees 

If Black continues smoothly and white gets his Rh1 to e1 to defend e4 then white should be slightly better, for example: 3.g3 a6 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.0-0 Qc7 (obviously still waiting for d2-d4) 6.c3! Nf6 7.Re1 =/+=
Attacking e4 with Nf6 doesn´t stop white´s setup: 3.g3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 (4...Ng4 5.h3 or 5.d4!?) 5.Bg2 Nc6 6.0-0 Qc7 7.Re1 =/+=
The best possibility for black is 3.g3 d5! 4.exd5 exd5 and now (depending on his style and his intentions) white can chose between 5.Qe2+ and 5.Bg2!? Qe7+! 6.Qe2 or 6.Kf1!?. That´s all equal or unclear but without any c3 or b3 theory white can avoid a hedgehog!

Since this is the Anti-Sicilians forum, I have to recommend (as mentioned before) 3. c3 and 3. b3, the latter of which I feel is most promising and can be quite dangerous for black. If you want to play 3. d4, there is nothing wrong with that (it is my personal choice). In response to the 5. Nb5 line, I assume you mean 7. Bg5 as 7. Bb5 (capturing your own knight) is not legal. I have played that line before and it is an intersting and offbeat try. However, I find 5. Nc3 to be much more fun for an attacking player, especially if you enjoy the English Attack/Yugoslav Attack Lines against Najdorf/Classical/Dragon players. The other problem with 2...e6 is that 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 (again, as mentioned before) is the ridiculously solid (although a trifle passive) Kan variation. However, if you are prepared to meet both of these you should be okay. Also, it should be noted that 4...Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 is a Sicilian Schevingen and, in that same thread, 5...Nc6 is also quite playable. If you want to learn the theory, 3. d4 is probably best while if you are looking for an anti-sicilian weapon then 3. b3 is my recommendation.

I'lll have a look at the Kalashnikov, but I'm not convinced...

Yaltmax,

Can you move the above post to the topic specifically for 3. b3?

Thanks

Thanks for your advice. Unfortunately I have neither the time nor inclination to learn lots of theory in the OPen Sicilian, and I found the KIA was as boring as  !

Chris Baker's repetoire book recommends 3. Nc3, but it seems to transpose into the g3 lines of the Najdorf which one of my club thinks is good for Black.

I didn't realize it said 3.c3.  I was thinking the Alapin.  Sorry.