Black should certainly play better than that:

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e5 7.Nde2 h5 8.g3

Where do we go from here? At first glance, 8...b5 looks the most thematic. 9.Bg5 Nbd7 10.Nd5 Bb7 11.Nec3 Rc8 12.Bg2 all looks pretty straightforward (Karjakin-Gelfand, Tata 2014, 1-0).

8...Nbd7 9.a4 Be7 10.Bg2 b6 looks interesting. One of my old favourites, Ratmir Kholmov twice got here via a 6.g3 move order. Karpov did the same against Ivanchuk in 1994. But this is just me collecting. I'd like to try to get under the hood this weekend when I have a bit of time.

Keano wrote on 12/11/14 at 21:42:10:


Yes on both counts. It's still beyond me, though, what 6.h3 holds for White. Avoiding Black's pet preparation? The subsequent positions do seem to score rather well...

My problem is not with posts like HgMan's - as I side in my response, it's not necessarily bad to Necro a thread if someone wants to revisit the content. That's obviously preferred over starting a new thread. My issue, and perhaps I'm alone here, is that the response brought back a thread out of the dead with little to no value added. Perhaps I'm just a little bit more of a curmudgeon about this than the general public, and if that's the case then I'll shut up. Either way some great chess is popping up here (HgMan and I posted at the same time so I didn't see it before I responded) about an interesting and topical line, so on with the discussion.

TonyRo wrote on 12/11/14 at 15:38:12:


It is irrelevant what TN thinks now. The thread exists, the chesspub is a knowlegebase and it is infinitely better to resurrect an old thread than create a new one in this case. The age of the thread is irrelevant.

For example HGMan has now posted some interesting lines. We should be encouraging people to respond to threads, not discouraging them.

I'll bite. In the good old days, the original query was an invitation to lash out some variations. I have a hard time believing this has anything more than surprise value for White. In fact, it seems as though 6.h3 is so passive that Black can transpose into just about any Open Sicilian of his/her choosing:

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e5 7.Nde2 h5

This scores rather well for Black, although I would want to look at a couple of recent super-GM White wins by Karjakin and Giri. Both played 8.g3, so maybe some study is warranted there. I'm long out of practice in these lines, but doesn't 7...Nc6 8.g4 b5 take us into Sveshnikov territory?

I can't imagine Black would open with the Najdorf only to transition to a Dragon, but sure 7...g6 is playable.

Perhaps in keeping with the Najdorf:

6.h3 e6 7.g4 b5 looks okay

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e6 7.g4 Nfd7!?

No less than Grischuk has tried 8.g5 here (Grischuk—Dominguez Perez, Baku 2014), which grates a little on my eyes (but I guess this becomes a simple transposition in the long run). 8...Nc6 and at worst Black has steered the game back towards more familiar and/or orthodox ground.

(This thread is from four years ago)

Fischer's original comments in his 'My 60 Memorable Games' are interesting. I would have started from there (actually I once prepared this line for a specific opponent using as my sole source this book)..