To MNb: I agree that Black has many good replies to 2.Nc3, for instance 2...e6.  I actually have more than one line I play against the GPA, because as a Paulsen/Taimanov/Kan player I have a lot of flexibility.  But the original question was about what a "die hard Najdorf player" should play.  I still think the simplest answer is 2...d6, because Black shouldn't let White move order him out of his repertoire.  Willempie's lines are interesting.  But assuming Black wants to keep his option of playing a Najdorf open -- which seems like a pretty safe assumption given the title of the thread "Closed sicilian and Najdorf" -- I recommend playing 2...d6.  That's all.

To Pingudon: the 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 lines are not that scary; I recommend you play those.  Regarding 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nge2 e5, I have a little experience here in casual games because I play the Kalashnikov every now and then.  Black may be fine theoretically, but I get the feeling that White's position is easier/more fun to play over the board.  But it's not a big deal; just try it out in a few games.  I assume you plan on answering 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 with 3...e5 as well.

edit: Sometimes I think we get a bit carried away in our discussions (nothing wrong with that), but here I've been trying to answer Pingudon's questions, not start a new discussion on what to play against the GPA.

MNb wrote on 11/27/06 at 01:48:45:


Well... This is indeed very edifying. I never imagined that my 'invention' had good stats as well as offering quite a degree of flexibility! I do essay a Paulsen every once in a while so no problems transposing there. Thanks very much for this. 

Quote:


Thanks also to Willempie for this interesting suggestion.

That is a very interesting stuff... but what do you think about 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nge2 e5!! and no GP attack. It seems a drawish line but being black I do no mind drawing against Topalov

See: http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1150894032/15#27 in the thread mentioned above by MNb.

what about 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3/Nge2 a6? Now 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 e5 would lead to Najdorf-like territory (plus you have the added bonus that white may play 6.Nxc6), while non-d4 moves dont particularly impress me (as mentioned above).

I agree that after 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 e6 4.Nf3 a6 White has nothing better than 5.d4, but perhaps nearly as good is 5.g3.  But that's a different discussion...

Still, doesn't this mean that Black needs to learn a whole new Open Sicilian just to avoid a so-called "improved" version of the GPA?  I think the simplest thing for Najdorf players to do is just play 2...d6.  I really don't think that 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 is anything to worry about; I'm not even sure it's better for White than the standard 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4, though a discussion of the line should be moved to another thread.  In practice Black must be a little more accurate here, but in theory I don't think he has anything to worry about.

I'm sure 2...a6 isn't really bad, but it's ofen unnecessary in the Closed Sicilian.   

A lot of Open Sicilian players (at least ones that I know) are aware of the move order problems that Najdorf and Sveshnikov players have, etc., and so play things like 1.e4 2.Nc3 3.Nge2 and 4.d4 or 1.e4 2.Nf3 3.Nc3 and 4.d4.  The only drawback to this is that they can't play the Maroczy bind anymore, but in my experience most Open Sicilian players (under 2300 or so) aren't really interested in the Maroczy bind anyways; they'd much rather have more active piece play.  For instance, doing a quick search of my own games after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cd 4.Nxd4 Nc6, I see that only 2 out of 13 opponents (rated between 1770 and 2400 USCF) went in for a Maroczy bind.  In other words, I don't think many White players mind giving up the option of the Maroczy and so like to annoy potential Najdorf and Sveshnikov players.

Personally, because of the above considerations, I'd just play 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6.  Don't allow White to move-order you out of your main lines; the only drawback to 2...d6 is a slightly inferior setup against the Grand Prix, but...if you're afraid of this line you really shouldn't be playing the Sicilian anyway!  Black should still be fine after 2...d6 in the Grand Prix.