I think I forgot to mention that against 2...e6 there is also 3.g3!? as Michael Adams has dabbled with.

Over-all pick the Sicilian you like and worry about the anti's later.

ErictheRed wrote on 04/09/14 at 16:37:23:


The tameness or not depends who is playing with the White pieces, the positions can be interpreted quietly and in a positional way, or White can go straight for the throat. As Magnus Carlsen has shown, lines previously thought "tame" can contain quite a degree of venom.

ErictheRed wrote on 04/09/14 at 05:10:34:

Thanks, this is a more than sufficient answer. While I agree this is a solid good line for Black I wouldn't call it boring. In your line b Black runs the risk of an isolated queen pawn with square d4 under White's control while White runs the risk of getting Bb2 blocked by ...d5-d4. Like Keano wrote 5.c4 is possible too; in all cases there is an entire game to play and I disagree it must be a boring one.

Nc6 then e6 and d6 directly is a very sensible, well known, anti Keres attack move order for Scheveningen players. 

You still to have do some work for 6 g4 anyway, the bind after e6 Nb5 etc but nothing that bad.

It sounded like 2..Nc6 instead of 2..e6 due to an active like of facing 3 Bb5 In that case I'd think that 2 .. Nc6 is definitely most likely to induce Bb5 ideas.

The Sveshnikov is rather a difference beast to normal open sicillians and quite a few dodge it.

2.. d6 does tend to go together with an early Nf6.

ErictheRed wrote on 04/09/14 at 05:10:34:


In that particular line 5.d4?! is indeed not best if Black knows about 6...Qf6!

5.c4 is eminently playable though.

But the real expert on 3.b3 is Akopian and  I noticed a game he played a couple of days ago in the first round of the Dubai open where he went:

5.g3 d5 6.exd5 exd5 7.Qe2+ Qe7 8.Nc3! (only this can cause trouble)

The nice thing about 3.b3 is that White is playing chess and not remembering theory.

MNb wrote on 04/09/14 at 00:17:26:


In brief, 3.b3 a6 4.Bb2 Nc6 and now:
5.d4?! cd 6.Nxd4 Qf6!
5.g3 d5 6.ed ed, and
5.c4 Qc7 6.g3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Rb8 preparing ...b5.

Obviously I don't want to give too much away; they take two pages to cover 3.b3 in The Safest Sicilian.

A related question: I like to play the hybrid variant (Nc6 + d6) against the Rossolimo and the Moscow. -

But first some background: If white plays the open Sicilian, I as black aim for positions in the Scheveningen family. I don't play the Sicilian for the dynamic counterchances black is supposed to get after an antipositional e5, nor for the tactical complications in one of the lines where white plays Bg5, nor for the hedgehog type positions. The dragon, accelerated or not, is also not for me, although I like the spirit of the opening. I just want to have the extra central pawn, one more than white has. And I prefer to have it in a classical type of game. My elo is about 1800 and I like to understand what my plan in the opening is as much as possible.
You will probably agree that I can play Nc6, d6 and e6 on my second move. If I aim for a Scheveningen structure, the three moves have their pros and cons, but they are more or less equally playable to try to reach a Scheveningen position. (Of course, a downside of playing d6 is having to risk white playing Bg5, either in a Najdorf or in a classical Sicilian, but depending on the possible gains, that might be a risk I'd be willing to take.)

Now back to the actual question: which move order invites white more to play 3.Bb5 in your opinion? I agree with what has been said: in most cases, you shouldn't worry about the anti-sicilians, you should decide which open Sicilian you want to play and only then worry about what to do when white doesn't play d4. But in my case I can take white's anti-sicilian options into account when deciding on my second move. And in truth I play the Sicilian to annoy white. Tempting white to play an anti-sicilian is a part of that. So it's natural to wonder which move order tempts white most of all to play something else than the open Sicilian.

Up until now, I always assumed 2... Nc6 was a surer way of inviting 3.Bb5(+) than 2... d6. Accordingly, I have been playing 2... Nc6 in recent times. But after reading what has been said about the Moscow in this thread, I'm starting to think I should switch to 2... d6. What do you think?

MartinC wrote on 04/08/14 at 08:30:20:


Agreed. My point is that deciding on your main Sicilian based on anti-Sicilians is an absurd thing to do.

By the way 3.b3 is under-rated in my view against 2...e6.