I have to say I am starting to like this opening.  I don't think it says anything for the theory of the opening, but I played 3 more games against the Sicilian and won them all in pretty much the same way.  (Opposition was approx. same rating as me, approx. 1600 FICS).   

What would happen is my opponent would play in the following way:

1. e4 c5
2. Na3 Nc6 
3. Bb5 a3
4. Bxc6 bxc6

Then what happened (in all 3 games) was my opponent would develop and the pawn structure would eventually become totally closed.  Both of my opponents bishops would be blocked in and I could use my knight(s) to maneuver and pick off pawns.  Here is one of the games.  My opponent blundered at the end, but even without the blunder white had a good lead at that point:

1. e4 c5 2. Na3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. c3 e6 6. Nc2 d6 7. f3 Be7
8. g3 Nf6 9. c4 O-O 10. d3 Nd7 11. Bf4 Nb6 12. b3 d5 13. Bd2 dxe4 14. dxe4
Bf6 15. Rb1 Qe7 16. Ba5 Rb8 17. f4 g6 18. e5 Bg7 19. Bc3 Rd8 20. Qe2 Bd7
21. Nf3 h6 22. Rd1 Re8 23. Ne3 f5 24. Nh4 Qf7 25. Ba5 Red8 26. Nf3 Re8 27. O-O
Nc8 28. Ne1 Rb7 29. Nd3 Bf8 30. Rd2 g5 31. Nb2 g4 32. Ng2 Ne7 33. Ne1 Ng6
34. Na4 Bc8 35. Nd3 Rd7 36. Naxc5 Bxc5+ 37. Nxc5 Rxd2 38. Qxd2 Qe7 39. Qd4
Rd8 40. Qxd8+ Qxd8 41. Bxd8
{Black resigns} 1-0

I know 7. f3 was a mistake, but I was wondering if this is the type of position one should aim for with 2. Na3.

I just played against this move for the first time in a weekend tournament, but my opponent was a 10 - year old kid, so don't expect any theoretical significance  .  Here's the game, if anyone cares:



10 Year Old Kid - Me

1.e4 c5 2.Na3 e6 3.c3 Nc6 4.Bb5 Nge7 5.f4 a6 6.Bxc6? Nxc6 7.Nf3 d5 8.e5 Be7 9.d4 0-0 10.0-0 Qb6 11.Nc2 Bd7 12.Kh1 Rac8 13.dxc5 Bxc5 14.Ncd4 f6 15.exf6 Bxd4 16.cxd4 Rxf6 17.Ne5? Nxe5 18.dxe5 Rg6 19.b3 d4 20.Bb2 d3 21.Rc1 Rxc1 22.Qxc1 Bc6 23.Rg1 Qf2 0-1

Obviously 6.Bxc6 is a positional mistake, and closing the center with 8.e5 just gives Black a very good French.  White also kind of help-mated himself at the end; like I said, he was a 10 year old kid.

I'm curious about what White should do after 4.Nge7, though?  Any literature on this?  It looks like the most natural (to me) way of playing, but then I'm a Taimanov player so I would think that .

Probably most of you have noticed that S.Bücker has started at least a 2-part series on 2.Na3 at http://www.chesscafe.com/kaissiber/kaissiber.htm. ; He also mentions H.Myers 2.a4!? which has similiar ideas, although I'm not sure how one makes good use of it after 2...e6.

(By the way, am I now supposed to ask permission before listing the website?  It's seems this could be rather tedious and would slow down the posting process.  I'm certainly not going to mention any sites that actually charge a subscription and that compete with chesspublishing.com.  Not that there is really any competition.  I agree with John Watson that chesspublishing.com is a tremendous bargain.)

I just got my hands on Jeroen Bosch's SOS article on 2. Kta3.

Apart from the replies we have already suggested, he mentions the move 2. ...b6 which I think is a very logical idea. White cannot answer the attack on his e-pawn with the natural Ktc3 or a tempo gaining advance (2...Ktf6 ; 3. e5). 

Apparently, Zviagintsev's idea against 2. ...e6 is 3. c3 d5 ; 4. e5 Ktc6 ; 5. Ktf3 with g3 and Ktc2 to follow before d4. But after 3. ...Ktf6!? ; 4. e5 Ktd5 White's QKnight is misplaced in these Alapin positions)

The main game of the article is Zviagintsev-Khalifman Moscow ch-Russia 2005 :
1. e4 c5 ; 2. Kta3 Ktc6 ; 3. Bb5 Qc7 ; 4. Ktf3 g6 ; 5. c3 a6 ; 6. Bxc6 Qxc6 ; 7. 0-0 Bg7 ; 8. d4 d6 ; 9. d5 Qc7 ; 10. h3 Ktf6 ; 11. Bf4 0-0 ; 12. Re1 b5 ; 13. Qd2 Bb7 ; 14. Rad1 Rfe8 ; 15. c4 Qb6 ; 16. Bh6 Bh8 ; 17. b3 e6 ; 18. Ktg5 ed ; 19. cd Re7 ; 20. Re3 Rae8 ; 21. Rde1 a5 ; 22. Ktb1 b4 ; 23. Qc2 Ktd7 ; 24. Ktd2 Ba6 ; 25. Ktgf3 Kte5 ; 26. Bg5 Ktxf3+ ; 27. Ktxf3 Rd7 ; 28. e5 de ; 29. Ktxe5 Rxd5 ; 30. Ktxf7 Rxe3 ; 31. Rxe3 Kxf7 ; 32. Re7+ Kf8 ; 33. Qe4 Rd1+ ; 34. Kh2 Qd6+ ; 35. f4 Bf6 ; 36. Bh6+ Kg8 ; 37. Qa8+ 1-0

In my opinion, the result of the game does not reflect the outcome of the opening. Taking a look at the position after Black's 14th move, I can't help but feel that he has a much improved Benoni. He has the Bishop pair, he has managed to achieve the highly desirable ...b5 advance and most significantly, the Knight is totally out of place on -a3.
Bosch makes some very puzzling comments here. He states that "White is slightly better due to his space advantage", but then in the notes to Black's 24th move he writes (and here I agree completely) "24. ...Bd4 would have been even better, when Black is, to say the least, not worse".
In the 10-move interval, White plays logically and Bosch does not offer any improvements, so I wonder what he meant...

In any case, it seems to me that 4. f4 with the same GPA approach would have been a more consistent choice.

Finally, I'd like to mention that the idea of playing a deferred Rossolimo-GPA predates 2. Kta3.
There have been several games with 2. a4!? Ktc6 ; 3. Bb5 and 2. ...d6 Bb5+, while 2. ...e6 can be answered with 3. f4 d5 ; 4. e5 Ktc6 ; 5. Ra3 transposing to the mad Willy Wonka Attack (copyright TalJechin) against the French. I was faced with 2. a4 in a casual blitz game recently and could not refrain from 2. ...h5. And then you read that Khalifman burst out laughing when he saw 2. Kta3...

This looks like a move order thing to me. I remember something by the Canadian player  Day who played  Na3 ,c3, Nc2, and a general push on the king side in older GP games. maybe this is a refinement of the same idea as 2 f4 is suppose to be a bit to soon. I think it was also called the Clamp or Giant Clamp. It was in a Small book on the GP attack but I am unable to find it as I have moved house. A search with chess base should be able to unearth the ideas.
I like the idea and I will be lookint at it in some detail but as I am only a mere 1700 hacker  I will leave the serious work on understanding it or casting judgement to more competent folk.

Zvjaginsev recently beat 2738-rated Ponomariov in this line. What do the strong players in this forum think of this variation?

By the way, the Zvjaginsev anti-Sicilian 2 Na3!? is the subject of the SOS column in the latest issue of New In Chess.

[Event "XIII TCh-RUS"] 
[Site "Sochi RUS"] 
[Date "2006.04.20"] 
[Round "1"] 
[White "Zvjaginsev,V"] 
[Black "Ponomariov,R"] 
[Result "1-0"] 
[WhiteElo "2670"] 
[BlackElo "2738"] 
[EventDate "2006.04.20"] 
[ECO "B20"] 


1. e4 c5 2. Na3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. c3 Bg7 5. d3 Nf6 6. f4 O-O 7. Nf3 d6 8. O-O Bd7 9. Qe1 e6 10. Qh4 Nh5 11. g4 Qxh4 12. Nxh4 Bf6 13. Nxg6 hxg6 14. gxh5 gxh5 15. Ba4 d5 16. Bd1 c4 17. e5 Be7 18. dxc4 d4 19. Nc2 dxc3 20. bxc3 Na5 21. Ba3 Bxa3 22. Nxa3 Rac8 23. Be2 f6 24. Rad1 Be8 25. f5 fxe5 26. fxe6 Rxf1+ 27. Rxf1 Kg7 28. Bf3 b5 29. cxb5 Rxc3 30. Nb1 Rc5 31. Be2 e4 32. Kf2 e3+ 33. Kxe3 Re5+ 34. Kf3 Bxb5 35. Bxb5 Rxb5 36. Re1 Rf5+ 37. Kg3 Kf8 38. Nd2 Ke7 39. Nf3 Rd5 40. Kh4 Nc4 41. Ng5 Rd2 42. Rc1 Nd6 43. h3 Ne8 44. Kxh5 Rxa2 45. Kg6 Ra4 46. Rb1 Nd6 47. Rb8 Rf4 48. Ra8 Rf6+ 49. Kh5 Nb5 50. h4 Rf4 51. Rh8 Nd6 52. Rh7+ Ke8 53. Rxa7 Nf5 54. Nh7 Nd4 55. Kg6 Nxe6 56. Nf6+ Kd8 57. Ra8+ Kc7 58. Nd5+ 1-0