No, you are right and I get what you mean. In practical chess there is certainly no ultimate truth. 

Tal and Lasker could perhaps be considered provocative players while Capablanca and Fischer were the opposite.

However, the fact remains that in the long run if you keep on making suboptimal/bad moves you will lose for sure. That is what I meant about chess being about making good moves. Its like poker, there is no point in bluffing all the time.

PatzerNoster wrote on 11/27/09 at 10:38:16:


I hear what you are saying and perhaps it may be a good idea short time controls but in the end chess is about making good moves, isnt it?

TN wrote on 11/26/09 at 11:39:35:

And I should have better read this thread before my article went online or before I posted the above. My ChessCafe article said: "5…Nf6 transposes to a little-played, but interesting system" instead of mentioning its official name "Transporter Sicilian". My apologies to T. J. and the Swedish chess community.

MNb wrote on 11/26/09 at 02:44:52:

Your general idea seems sound. I don't know much about the Najdorf, but after 7...Be7 how would you continue? On 8 Be3, Black has Ng4, and 8 f3 allows 8...Qb6!? 9.Qd3 0-0, Black is willing to take on b2 or play something like Na6-c5. Or 8 Qd3 Nc6 9 f3 Nb4 10 Qd1 Be6, since you don't control d5.  

Instead of 7.Nde2, hoping for later recovery of the piece via g3, isn't Nf5 stronger, fighting for the square d5? Which transposes, of course, to the earlier remark in this thread by PatzerNoster: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 h6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e5 6 Nf5(!) d6, and now 7 Bc4 transposes to your own line, if you replace 7 Nde2 by 7 Nf5. This is certainly a good line for White. In my article I was focused on 3.c3, which for a long time I used to see as the refutation.

There is an interesting alternative: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 h6 3.Nc3 d6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.Bc4 a6! (instead of 6...e5). Then on 7 f3 Black can play 7...Qc7 which wins a tempo on the Bc4 (an advantage of postponing Nc6), followed by e6. Best may be 7 Be3, when Black has a choice:
(a) 7...e5
(a1) 8 Nde2 Ng4, an improved version of "a", transposes to your line. 
(a2) 8 Nf5 g6 9 Ng3 Be6 += is playable for Black (than 6...e5 7 Nf5), because Ng3 is less useful than a Ne3. 
(b) 7...Ng4 8 Qf3!? Ne5 9 Qe2 Nxc4 10 Qxc4 e6 11 0-0 b5 12 Qb3 Nd7 unclear. (c) 7...Qc7 8 Bb3 e6 with interesting play.

@TN
Perhaps you should read my article first, before you criticize. On 7.Nc3 my continuation is 7...Be6!.

Regarding Papageno's opinion:
Quote:
In this respect I certainly don't agree with Jesus de la Villa. - 7. Bc4! may be playable, but in Sozin-Fischer Black typically plays an early Nc6. There are other lines which are closer to the actual position; the option Qc7 (attacking the bishop) and/or b5 followed by Bb7 lead to interesting positions with balanced chances. The "pointless" move h6 isn't necessarily the point. The key may as well be postponing Nb8-c6, which adds new ideas to Black's arsenal.

PatzerNoster wrote on 11/25/09 at 14:33:44:


I highly doubt it; 4.e5 Nd5 5.d4 cd4 6.cd4 is much better for White - it's a main-line Alapin Sicilian with a full extra tempo for White. In fact, ...h6 could even be a harmful move if Black plays a ...d6/...e6 setup as White can then set up the Bc2/Qd3 battery at a later stage to good effect, and 6...d6 7.Nc3 Nc3 8.bc3 de5 9.Ne5 is dubious at best for Black. 7.Bc4 Nb6 8.Bb3 may be even better.

In the article in NIC Yearbook 18 (1990) I wrote: "The simplest continuation, perhaps, is 6 Nf5! d6 7 Ne3 Be6 8 Ned5, with a slight advantage for White." This line (or 7 Bc4) is certainly playable, though in my opinion 3 c3 is the harder test.

Compared to the Sveshnikov Black hasn´t wasted any time here since there is no attacked knight on c6. In fact it is White who is a tempo down because it´s Black to move. Also the pawn on h6 does make some sense after the typical Be7-g5.

Blacks position looks fine to me and I doubt this is best play for White.

But I agree with you that 2...h6?! is dubious. My preference would be 3.c3 instead of 3.d4.

Ender wrote on 10/30/09 at 11:56:31:


I´m not willing to defend 2...h6 but why is 7.Nd5 just better for White? 7...Nxd5 8.exd5 a6 looks acceptable for Black.

Hey, it's probably better to go for stuff that you actually see in main lines at a later stage. For instance 5...Qc7, (or your ...Bd7). These moves are forever cropping up everywhere, so it wouldn't be such an awful our-of-book idea to play it immediately. However except the Keres Attack and some weird Dragondorfs I can't for the life of me think up any line where Black would play ...h6. Besides what's the intention after a reply 6. Bc4?

That said, it's impossible in this pragmatic day and age to condemn any line to the Recycle Bin. Will observe later developments.

I'm not sure I trust this for Black after 6.Be3, for example:

a) 6...e6 7.Be2 a6/0-0 8.0-0 followed by f4 and Qe1, when it is far from clear what Black has gained from playing ...h6, which is probably more harmful than useful because it weakens Black's kingside. 

b) 6...a6 is somewhat more logical since if White plays as in the English Attack with 7.f3, then 7...e5 8.Nb3 Be6 is playable for Black. However, after 7.Bc4 e6 8.Bb3, White can count on a slight edge since f4-f5 is going to hurt in the future due to the weakening of the g6-square and the loss of a tempo in a sharp position.

c) 6...e5 (probably the best attempt to justify 5...h6, but unfortunately it has a flaw as well) 7.Bb5! and now both 7...Bd7 8.Bd7 Qd7 9.Nf5 and 7...Nbd7 8.Nf5 are favourable for White, who activates his knight and disrupts Black's coordination. 

Unfortunately, I can't get this 5...h6 variation to work. I recommend 5...Bd7 instead if you want a non-theoretical but flexible way to play the Sicilian.

Fllg wrote on 07/31/09 at 15:58:26:


Yes,I noticed some games with 2...h6 too, but since 2...a6 3.c3 is supposedly good for white, then 2...h6 would probably encourage all Anti-Sicilians...

OK, I think I've seen that one actually! So, Transporter fans and sicilianites could start their game with hoarsely whispering "One condition, I play my Sicilian"

@Fllg
Ooops, I noticed Kasperek-Pokojowczyk, but there black was probably wishing he'd played ...h6 instead of presumably wasting a tempo with a7-a6-a5

Strange that h6 could be confused with a6 more than once, I wonder how that would occur since there are two scoresheets so wouldn't those putting it in the database react over h6 and check the other copy - or did both players write h6 by mistake?  

TalJechin wrote on 07/31/09 at 12:28:01:


I am sure some of these games were entered wrongly into the database actually starting as a Najdorf with 5... a6. Look e.g. at the game Mohr-Timoscenko, Yerevan Ol. 1996 and here especially at white´s 23rd move.   In fact there are several misleading mistakes of this kind in Megabase.

Why Transporter? Jason Statham a fan?