Quote:I still dont understand the fuss. If you are going to delay Nc6 so say 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 then still after Bc4, Be3, f3 (not necessarily in that order) you get into yugoslav dragon territory. If you then keep insisting on not playing Nc6 as black I think you are basically obliged to flick in a6 at some point thus returning to my original post. I'll admit I misunderstood BK's question, but I think it doesnt make a practical difference.
Well....yeah! thats correct too, even if you used a very extreme example to illustrate it. Thanks for the clarification.
Quote:@woofwoof, that was exactly my point about g6-a6 setups, they tend to work only with "lesser" lines for white eg 6 h3, which I think everyone will agree doesnt threaten the survival of the Najdorf. I have won quite some games by move-ordering people out of the Najdorf into the dragon, without them realising that a6 isnt really what is called for when you get H-bombed in the Yugo. Eg games against Najdorf afficionados often start 1 e4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 (supposedly best against the closed) 3 Nf3 d6 4 d4 cxd4 5 Nxd4 and now they discover they have to go into the dragon or the classical, which they are far less familiar with and especially in the dragon they tend to play a6 at some point. I think that a6-move is probably something genetic with Najdorf players
Ah! i see now! thanks for clarifying. I thought when you wrote 'variations' earlier you were refering to things like Najdorf, Boleslavsky, Dragon etc etc variations of the sicilian rather than individual lines.
You maybe right abt that genetic bit with Najdorf players. It has also crept into my KID! I somehow feel very insecure without a6 such that I tend to throw it in even in lines where it is not the norm to play it or whenever I get a chance!
lol.
Thanks also for sharing abt the 2.Nc3 bit. I think I need to look at these transpositional subtleties so that I dont get stuck in some kind of dragon.