[quote author=bob000 link=1128752569/0#0 date=1128734568] Bd3 is wonderful against the Najdorf but I'm not sure of its effectiveness in a Schevenigen/Dragon transpoition. [/quote]

Actually if Black is intent on playing the thematic Najdorf ...e5 (cf. Nunn  "Complete Najdorf Modern Lines" p.332; 6. …e5), , then 6. ...Qc7 is a novelty worth looking into. (I occasionaly reach this position through 2. ...Qc7).
The point is that after 7. 0-0 e5 ; 8. Ktde2 (8. Ktb3 b5) Be6, Black may play for …d5 instead of the weakening …b5. e.g. 9. Bg5 Ktbd7 ; 10. f4 Be7 ; 11. f5 Bc4 and the position resembles those of 6. Be2 with the Knight misplaced on -e2 and the typical g4 jabs unavailable (cf. Nunn p. 264 note 1a to B’s 8th ; also p.259 note 2c to B’s 7th, p.275 line B1 and p. 299 line C) or of 6. f4 Qc7 ; 7. Bd3 e5 ; 8. Ktf3 (p.72) where 8. ...Be6?!  would be met by 9. Qe2! followed by f5 or even 9. f5!? Bc4 ; 10. Bxc4 Qxc4 ; 11. Ktd2, with the intention of Ktf1- e3 (cf. p.67, line A1 note to B’s 8th). 
Black’s move-order is important in inducing 0-0 since 6. …e5 ; 7. Ktde2 Qc7 ; 8. Bg5 Ktbd7 prevents …Be6 and 7. …Be6 ; 8. Bg5 Ktbd7 allows 9. Ktd5! .
White’s best at this point may be 7. f4, transposing to 6. f4 Qc7 ; 7. Bd3, which is comfortable for Black, because White has not contained his counterplay with a4. Instead 7. Bg5 Ktbd7 ; 8. f4 e6, is a minor line of the 6. Bg5 Najdorf.

                                                     Regards,
                                                           Hubert

What about the 5 Bd3 line? This seems to avoid the Najdorf and Dragon, plus Scheveningens and Classical Systems if Black plays 2...d6
I noticed Mark Hebden was teaching this to some of his students, and he even played it against me in the final of the Kilkenny blitz tournament! I guess this might be a deemed an Anti-Sicilian though?

Thanks for the games BK. Now for a very brief comment on the h3 move

Possible reponses for black are e6, g6 & b5!?

6....e5 is not good because of 7Nde2!Be7 (7....Be6 8.g4 d5 9.ed Nxd 10.Bg2 with an advantage) 8.g4 0-0 9.Ng3 g6 10.g5 Ne8 11.h4 with a powerful attack.

6....e6 7.g4 d5 is a good counter. 7...Nc6 Black develops simply & in comparison to the Keres in the Schevy, he is a move ahead since h3 may prove to be a loss of time.

6...g6 transposing to a dragon is a good reaction, cos black hopes to render white's h3 useless since in the normal Yugoslav attack, white will be forced to move this pawn again, thereby losing a tempo.

6....b5!? is probably the sharpest at black's disposal. refer Fischer-Najdorf Varna 1962. Am not able to find any write up about this particular move tho.

I wouldnt worry too much about this move as black. The main lines like f4,Bc4,Be3 & Bg5 are more difficult /tricky to deal with. As white it would work very well as a surprise esp those who have been too booked up in the main lines or those chess mates of yours who are too used to your pet lines.

My main curiousity now is what really to do with 6.Rg1. & whether 6....h5 is a good response. Hmmmm....... But based on the above moves for h3, probably b5,e6, g6 & Nc6.

later edit: typo error on 6...e6 line amended

Ok here is the H3 line with similar ideas but i have included more games because i was checking out the newest 10 as i usually do and i found it in white favour by a bit so here are the past 2 months of this line according to chesslive.de

[Event "USA tt"]
[Site "ICC INT"]
[Date "2005.10.05"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Schneider,Dmitry"]
[Black "Milman,Lev"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "B81"]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e6 7.g4 d5 8.Bg2 Bb4 
9.Bd2 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Be7 11.Nxf6+ Bxf6 12.Be3 Nd7 13.0-0 0-0 14.c4 Ne5 15.Rc1 Ng6 16.c5 Qc7 
17.c6 b6 18.Ne2 Rb8 19.b4 Be5 20.f4 Bd6 21.Qd2 Ne7 22.Rfd1 Nd5 23.Bxd5 exd5 24.f5 Qe7 
25.Bg5 Qe4 26.Qxd5 Qxd5 27.Rxd5 Bxb4 28.Rcd1 Bc5+ 29.Kf1 a5 30.c7 Ra8 31.Rd8 f6 32.Bf4 h5 
33.Bd6 Bxd6 34.R1xd6 hxg4 35.hxg4 b5 36.Nf4 Bb7 37.Rxa8 Bxa8 38.Rd8  1-0

[Event "Klaksvik"]
[Site "Klaksvik"]
[Date "2005.09.16"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Gullaksen,Eirik T"]
[Black "Eriksson,Johan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "B81"]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e6 7.g4 h6 8.Bg2 Be7 
9.Be3 g5 10.Qe2 Nbd7 11.0-0-0 Ne5 12.Nf3 Bd7 13.Rd2 Qc7 14.Nxe5 dxe5 15.h4 Rg8 16.hxg5 hxg5 
17.Rh6 Bc6 18.Qf3 Nd7 19.Nd5 Qd8 20.Nb6 Rb8 21.Qh3 Bf6 22.Bc5 Nxc5 23.Rxd8+ Bxd8 24.Rh8 Rxh8 
25.Qxh8+ Ke7 26.Qxe5 Bxb6 27.Qxb8 Nd7 28.Qg3 Bd4 29.f3 Be3+ 30.Kb1 Bf4 31.Qe1 Ne5 32.Qc3 Kf6 
33.Bf1 Kg6 34.Be2 Kh6 35.Qb4 Kg7 36.a4 Kg6 37.c3 Kg7 38.Kc2 Kf6 39.Qa5 Be3 40.b4 Bd7 
41.Kb3 Bf4 42.Qb6  1-0

[Event "Kesarovski Georgiev mem 4th"]
[Site "Sunny Beach"]
[Date "2005.09.16"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Stoinev,Metodi"]
[Black "Ivanov L,Stojan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "B81"]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e6 7.g4 h6 8.Bg2 Qc7 
9.a4 Nc6 10.0-0 Bd7 11.Nde2 Rc8 12.b3 Be7 13.Ba3 0-0 14.Qd2 Rfd8 15.Rad1 d5 16.Bxe7 Nxe7 
17.exd5 Nexd5 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 19.c4 Nf6 20.Qb4 Bc6 21.Qc5 Rd7 22.Nc3 Qb8 23.Rxd7 Bxg2 24.Qe7 Nxd7 
25.Kxg2 Qc7 26.Ne4 Nc5 27.Qxc5 Qxc5 28.Nxc5 Rxc5 29.Rd1 Rc6 30.Rd8+ Kh7 31.a5 Rc7 32.Kf3 Kg6 
33.Ke4 Kf6 34.Rg8 Rd7 35.b4 e5 36.Rc8 Rd4+ 37.Ke3 Rd7 38.Rc5 Ke6 39.b5 g6 40.f4 exf4+ 
41.Kxf4 Rd4+ 42.Ke3 Rd8 43.Ke4 f6 44.h4 axb5 45.Rxb5 Rd7 46.h5 gxh5 47.gxh5 Rc7 48.Rb6+ Kf7 
49.Kd5 Ke7 50.Re6+ Kf7 51.Rb6 Ke7 52.c5 Rd7+ 53.Kc4 Rc7 54.Rb1 Kf7 55.Rd1 Ke7 56.Rd6 Kf7 
57.Kb5 Re7 58.Kb6 Kg7 59.c6 bxc6 60.Rxc6 Re1 61.a6 Rb1+ 62.Kc7 Ra1 63.Kb7 f5 64.a7 Rxa7+ 
65.Kxa7 f4 66.Kb6 f3 67.Rc3 Kf6 68.Rxf3+ Kg5 69.Rg3+ Kxh5 70.Kc5 Kh4 71.Rg8 h5 72.Kd4 Kh3 
73.Ke3 h4 74.Kf3 Kh2 75.Rh8 Kh3 76.Rh7 Kh2 77.Rxh4+ Kg1 78.Rh8 Kf1 79.Rh1+  1-0

[Event "Kesarovski Georgiev mem 4th"]
[Site "Sunny Beach"]
[Date "2005.09.16"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Stoinev,Metodi"]
[Black "Nikolova,Adriana"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Eco "B90"]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e5 7.Nde2 b5 8.g4 Bb7 
9.Bg2 h6 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Ng3 Rc8 12.Be3 Nb6 13.Bxb6 Qxb6 14.Qd2 Qc5 15.a4 b4 16.Nd5 Nxd5 
17.exd5 a5 18.Rac1 Be7 19.Ne4 Qb6 20.c4 bxc3 21.bxc3 Ba6 22.Rb1 Qa7 23.Rfe1 0-0 24.Bf1 f5 
25.Bxa6 Qxa6 26.gxf5 Rxf5 27.Rb5 Rf4 28.Qe2 Rcf8 29.Rb8 Qa7 30.Rxf8+ Kxf8 31.Rb1 Kg8 32.Kg2 Qd7 
33.Rb8+ Kh7 34.Rb5 Rh4 35.Qd3 g6 36.Rxa5 Qf5 37.Ra7 Rxe4 38.Rxe7+ Kh8 39.Re8+ Kg7 40.Qg3 Rf4 
41.Re7+ Kf8 42.Re6 g5 43.Rxh6 Qe4+ 44.f3 Qxd5 45.Rh8+ Kg7 46.Rd8 e4 47.fxe4 Qd2+ 48.Kg1 Qd1+ 
49.Kg2 Qe2+ 0-1

[Event "Yanofsky mem"]
[Site "Winnipeg"]
[Date "2005.09.03"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Pierre,Rolland"]
[Black "Enns,Edward"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "B90"]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Be2 g6 
9.Bg5 Nbd7 10.0-0 Qc7 11.Nd2 Bg7 12.Rc1 0-0 13.a3 b5 14.b3 Qxc3 15.Nb1 Qc6 16.Bf3 Rad8 
17.Nd2 h6 18.Be3 Nc5 19.c4 Nfxe4 20.cxb5 Qd7 21.Bxc5 dxc5 22.Bxe4 Bd5 23.Qe2 f5 24.Bxd5+ Qxd5 
25.Rfd1 axb5 26.Qxb5 Qa8 27.Nc4 Rxd1+ 28.Rxd1 Rb8 29.Qxc5 Bf8 30.Qxe5 Rxb3 31.Qe6+ Kh7 32.Rd7+ Bg7 
33.Ne5 Rb1+ 34.Kh2 Qg8 35.Qxg6+ Kh8 36.Nf7+ Qxf7 37.Rxf7  1-0

[Event "Budapest FS09 IM-B"]
[Site "Budapest"]
[Date "2005.09.03"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Lengyel,Bela"]
[Black "Vasilkova,Svetlana"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Eco "B90"]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 g6 7.g4 Bg7 8.Bg2 0-0 
9.0-0 Nbd7 10.a4 Nc5 11.Be3 e5 12.Nb3 Ne6 13.Qd2 h5 14.g5 Nh7 15.h4 f6 16.Rad1 fxg5 
17.Qxd6  0-1


I think these 2 choices can at this stage be played more on general ideas more often then theory. little has been written about them and few games have been played. 

So i would recomend one of these either one if you gave a little bit of deep studie you might find a new weapon for the Najdorf! I myself after looking at some of the games will probley try out h3. Still having the right to castle but still with the threat of pushing further into the enemy territory. 

Fun chess regardless of the result will happen im sure!

Quote:


True. It has many responses, but none go in some 20 moves deep enmeshed with all kinds of sidelines & sub variations. The most extreme being the Bg5 where it takes a whole book to cover the PP, Polu & Main Line! But you are right in the sense that it is still a lot of work for f4!

The best part however is that the Bg5 is so thoroughly analysed that it probably becomes too predictable. The 6.f4 still has avenues of exploration & relatively far less theoretical.

Briefly going thro each response:
1) Nc6- less good due to 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5

2) Nbd7- flexible move by black, but white can transpose this to a Bc4 game eg 7.Bc4 b5 8.Bb3 Bb7 9.0-0! e6 10.f5!

3) e6- can be transposed to a Bc4 game as well.

4)g6 - not very much played but if played together with 8.Nh5 is a playable idea but needs more practical games which is still lacking to get a real picture of things. However its better if g6 is played after 7...Qc7. From what ive read so far 7...Qc7 is the most popular move for black.

5) e5. The most direct way of challenging the ctr. Just i'm not sure how good it is for black. King doesnt recommend it but some other author cant remember whom gives it a (!). 7.Nf3 Qc7 8.Bd3 Be7 9.0-0 0-0 (or Nbd7).

An interesting try is 6...Qb6 but not oft seen.

Regarding BK's Rg1, now that's a new one. I cant find any info on it yet. But i would for now put the question on why move a whole rook just to get g4 in??? I wonder if black can respond with h5. Schematically black castles long & plays on the K-side & ctr.

Any suggestions for this?

Nothing wrong with 6.f4, but as Black has a very wide choice - e5, e6, Nc6, Qc7, Nbd7, even g6 - the theoretical density is hardly less.
When you decide to play the Najdorf (with either colour) there is simply no way to avoid a lot of work (well, 6.h3 maybe).

If you want to go mainly on understanding i would go with 6.f4 Tal commented in his autobiography that he doesnt know why it is not more popular it gets a fair number of wins!

Its a nice line for an idea player as well as most Najdorf players spend there time looking at Bg5 and the dreaded Yugoslav Doppleganger known as the english attack! I personally fear the english attack most. 

I know thats silly bebut you can see me arguing about that in another thread

"I prefer lines where superior understanding of the position would give a decent chance of adantage"

This rules out 6.Bg5, but also 6.Be3 imo, as White in both variations simply must know a lot of theory by heart.
Considering the fact, that you already play 6.Bc4 against the Scheveningen, it is logical to play 6.Bc4 against the Najdorf too. The most challenging setup is with the manoeuvre Qd1-f3-g3.