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Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) Beating the Anti-Sicilians by Kotronias (Read 30425 times)
fling
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Re: Beating the Anti-Sicilians by Kotronias
Reply #25 - 11/15/19 at 06:59:28
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Straggler wrote on 11/13/19 at 08:41:52:
Someone (TN, I think) pointed out that his lines with 2...Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 (or 2...d6 3.Bb5+ Nc6) don't inspire confidence if you compare them with Neiksans' recommendations for White.


In other words, it seems like what I have looked at might not be a coincidence and a small mistake, but rather that the whole work unfortunately is not up to standards.
  
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Re: Beating the Anti-Sicilians by Kotronias
Reply #24 - 11/13/19 at 08:41:52
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Someone (TN, I think) pointed out that his lines with 2...Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 (or 2...d6 3.Bb5+ Nc6) don't inspire confidence if you compare them with Neiksans' recommendations for White.
  
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Re: Beating the Anti-Sicilians by Kotronias
Reply #23 - 11/12/19 at 21:56:10
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Bibs wrote on 02/24/16 at 10:16:25:
Bump!
Any further thoughts on this text?
My opinion thus far is that K is very much concerned with theoretical viability, likely with a heavy duty PC, but less so with what I might term 'usability', which is quite important for those of us who are not softwares. 
A number of the lines seem quite unfriendly.


I have had a closer look at some of the lines in the c3-variation, more specifically in Chapter 7, variation C1. 10 Bd3!?.

I don't know if there has been heavy duty work with a PC, I'd say on the contrary, I think in the sidelines there are many improvements for both sides, but especially White, and that engines discover these problems fairly quickly. Look at the sequence of the game Stromboli-Frischmann. From what I can tell, there is a great improvement for White on move 16, instead of 16. h4.

Anyone else that has noted problems with the recommendations?
  
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Re: Beating the Anti-Sicilians by Kotronias
Reply #22 - 02/02/18 at 22:12:50
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I also came to the conclusion that Black has problems after 10. ... Nd7.

What about 10. ... Ng8 11.e6 Be6: 12.Re6: fe6: 13.Qb3 Ra7 14.Nc3 g6 15.Na4 ?
White will bring the knight to c5 and perhaps also to d3 where it can go to e5 or support Bf4 (against Qd6). White keeps g3 in hand, which could be more effective once Black has developed his knight to f6.
I am not so sure that this is so easy for Black.

But I like the natural 13. ... Na5!? e.g. 14.Qb4 Nf6!

a) 15.Bd2 Nc4 16.Bc4: dc4: 17.Qb7: Qc8 looks ok for Black

b) 15.Nc3 Rc8 16.Bf4 Nd7 (planning Qb6) 17.Re1 Qb6 18.Qa4 Nc4 19.b3 Nd6 20.Ne5 Qd8 and I don't see any problems for Black.
  
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Re: Beating the Anti-Sicilians by Kotronias
Reply #21 - 01/30/18 at 02:37:06
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TopNotch wrote on 01/28/18 at 23:05:19:
Syzygy wrote on 01/27/18 at 22:34:41:
Kotronias's choice in the Universal System against the Rossolimo and the Moscow is highly dangerous for Black: 

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nc6 4. O-O Bd7 5. Re1 Nf6 6. c3 a6 7. Bf1 Bg4 8. d4 cxd4 9. cxd4 d5! 10. e5 Nd7 11. e6!!

This pawn sacrifice seems natural, but is not considered. Now 11...fxe6 12. Nc3 g6 13. Be2 Bg7 14. Ng5! Bf5 15. Bd3 is much better for White, while after 11...Bxe6 12. Nc3:

12...g6 13.Ng5! Nf6 14. Nxe6 fxe6 15. g3,

12...Nf6 13. Rxe6! fxe6 14. g3, and

12...Qb6 13. Bf4! g6 14. Ng5 Qxd4 15. Qf3! Qf6 16. Rad1 Nb6 17. Qg3 Rc8 18. Bd3 Bg7 18. Rxe6! fxe6 19. Nxh7!

are all very strong for White as well.


There is also the popular 10...Ng8 to be considered, when the typical pawn sac 11.e6 while playable is not quite as convincing. 


You're right: after 10...Ng8 11. e6 Bxe6 12. Rxe6 fxe6 13. Qb3, 13...Ra7! 14. g3 Nh6! seems to be a clear improvement. 

I wonder why Kotronias did not recommend 10...Ng8 over 10...Nd7, given that Black seems to equalize with natural moves in the French-like positions that arise from 11. Be3 or 11. Nbd2.
  
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Re: Beating the Anti-Sicilians by Kotronias
Reply #20 - 01/28/18 at 23:05:19
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Syzygy wrote on 01/27/18 at 22:34:41:
Kotronias's choice in the Universal System against the Rossolimo and the Moscow is highly dangerous for Black: 

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nc6 4. O-O Bd7 5. Re1 Nf6 6. c3 a6 7. Bf1 Bg4 8. d4 cxd4 9. cxd4 d5! 10. e5 Nd7 11. e6!!

This pawn sacrifice seems natural, but is not considered. Now 11...fxe6 12. Nc3 g6 13. Be2 Bg7 14. Ng5! Bf5 15. Bd3 is much better for White, while after 11...Bxe6 12. Nc3:

12...g6 13.Ng5! Nf6 14. Nxe6 fxe6 15. g3,

12...Nf6 13. Rxe6! fxe6 14. g3, and

12...Qb6 13. Bf4! g6 14. Ng5 Qxd4 15. Qf3! Qf6 16. Rad1 Nb6 17. Qg3 Rc8 18. Bd3 Bg7 18. Rxe6! fxe6 19. Nxh7!

are all very strong for White as well.


There is also the popular 10...Ng8 to be considered, when the typical pawn sac 11.e6 while playable is not quite as convincing.
  
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Re: Beating the Anti-Sicilians by Kotronias
Reply #19 - 01/28/18 at 17:01:12
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Stigma wrote on 01/28/18 at 13:19:39:
D & S try to show that 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.0-0 Be7 is OK for Black


Reminds me of the ancient game Fischer-Sherwin, where after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d3 Nc6 4. g3 Nf6 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nbd2 Rb8 8. Re1 d6 9. c3, I seem to recall that Fischer (in My 60 Memorable Games) gave 9...b5 10. d4 cd 11. cd d5 12. e5 Nd7 as equal.

Not long after that game, Fischer also played 3. g3, only to have it labelled as dubious on the ChessBase sites 60 years later.  Odd.
https://en.chessbase.com/post/60-years-ago-14-year-old-bobby-fischer-wins-us-cha...
  
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Re: Beating the Anti-Sicilians by Kotronias
Reply #18 - 01/28/18 at 16:27:06
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Stigma wrote on 01/28/18 at 13:19:39:

But can't White simply play 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.d3 if you don't want to be committed to Qe2?


I think you can. The other reason for playing 3. d3 was to avoid the lines where they play .. d5 almost immediately and you play d4. Whilst that's fine when played by Adams and others, I didn't like the resulting positions very much, or didn't play them very well.
  
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Re: Beating the Anti-Sicilians by Kotronias
Reply #17 - 01/28/18 at 13:19:39
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RdC wrote on 01/28/18 at 09:54:30:
Stigma wrote on 01/28/18 at 02:03:25:
[quote author=292A440 link=1449305289/13#13 date=1517090529]
Though I'm starting to realize the Delchev/Semkov recommendation of 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.Qe2 e5 followed by ...Be7 and ...0-0 was well thought through.


I've rather gone off playing 3. g3 and returned to the old 3. d3. Despite the loss of tempo and being one move behind, I feel the Queen is misplaced on e2 once the position becomes a genuine reversed Kings Indian.

The game between Short and Movsesian from the 2014 Olympiad is a particular example.
[...]

Thanks for the game. It's similar to the main line in Delchev/Semkov.

But can't White simply play 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.d3 if you don't want to be committed to Qe2? Then it looks like the 3.g3 move order has served to cut down Black's options (and maybe trick some players out of their repertoire): All lines with ...Nge7 are off the table, including the setups with ...d5/...Bd6/...Nge7, ...d5/...Nge7/...g6/...Bg7 and ...Nge7/...e6-e5/...g6/...Bg7 (the Botvinnik system).

D & S try to show that 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.0-0 Be7 is OK for Black, but this is not what they wanted to play against 3.d3 - there they have Black attempting to set up the Botvinnik system.
« Last Edit: 01/28/18 at 14:25:31 by Stigma »  
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Re: Beating the Anti-Sicilians by Kotronias
Reply #16 - 01/28/18 at 09:54:30
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Stigma wrote on 01/28/18 at 02:03:25:
[quote author=292A440 link=1449305289/13#13 date=1517090529]
Though I'm starting to realize the Delchev/Semkov recommendation of 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.Qe2 e5 followed by ...Be7 and ...0-0 was well thought through.


I've rather gone off playing 3. g3 and returned to the old 3. d3. Despite the loss of tempo and being one move behind, I feel the Queen is misplaced on e2 once the position becomes a genuine reversed Kings Indian.

The game between Short and Movsesian from the 2014 Olympiad is a particular example.




  
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Re: Beating the Anti-Sicilians by Kotronias
Reply #15 - 01/28/18 at 02:03:25
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fjd wrote on 01/27/18 at 22:02:09:
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 g3 Nc6 4 Bg2 Nge7 5 0-0 looks good for White after either 5...g6 6 d4 or 5...d5 6 exd5 Nxd5 7 d4 (which is similar to another line, where White even has to make a couple preparatory moves before getting d2-d4 in)


Hmm, yes, 4...Nge7 doesn't look that good. Strange that a number of strong players have tried it. Maybe 7...Be7 8.dxc5 0-0 at the end of your line is worth a shot.

fjd wrote on 01/27/18 at 22:02:09:
4...Nf6 is more common, and after 5 Qe2 d5, I think White has two good choices:

6 d3!? is a KIA proper, yes, but it's normally the position White wants to get on the board when he goes 3 d3, for instance; e.g. 6...Be7 7 0-0 0-0 8 e5 Nd7 9 c4!, when White probably isn't better, but this feels a bit like playing into Black's hands.

There's also 6 exd5 Nxd5 7 0-0 Be7 8 Rd1 followed by d2-d4 (4...Nge7 5 0-0 d5 6 exd5 above is an improved version of this line), when I think White's a bit better, or at least more comfortable.

In your last line, isn't Black fine after 8...Qb6 9.c3 0-0? Other than that, it seems a bit hard to get to the KIA lines I intended, though maybe this main line is still playable for both sides.

Though I'm starting to realize the Delchev/Semkov recommendation of 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.Qe2 e5 followed by ...Be7 and ...0-0 was well thought through.
  
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Re: Beating the Anti-Sicilians by Kotronias
Reply #14 - 01/27/18 at 22:34:41
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Kotronias's choice in the Universal System against the Rossolimo and the Moscow is highly dangerous for Black: 

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nc6 4. O-O Bd7 5. Re1 Nf6 6. c3 a6 7. Bf1 Bg4 8. d4 cxd4 9. cxd4 d5! 10. e5 Nd7 11. e6!!

This pawn sacrifice seems natural, but is not considered. Now 11...fxe6 12. Nc3 g6 13. Be2 Bg7 14. Ng5! Bf5 15. Bd3 is much better for White, while after 11...Bxe6 12. Nc3:

12...g6 13.Ng5! Nf6 14. Nxe6 fxe6 15. g3,

12...Nf6 13. Rxe6! fxe6 14. g3, and

12...Qb6 13. Bf4! g6 14. Ng5 Qxd4 15. Qf3! Qf6 16. Rad1 Nb6 17. Qg3 Rc8 18. Bd3 Bg7 18. Rxe6! fxe6 19. Nxh7!

are all very strong for White as well.
  
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Re: Beating the Anti-Sicilians by Kotronias
Reply #13 - 01/27/18 at 22:02:09
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1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 g3 Nc6 4 Bg2 Nge7 5 0-0 looks good for White after either 5...g6 6 d4 or 5...d5 6 exd5 Nxd5 7 d4 (which is similar to another line, where White even has to make a couple preparatory moves before getting d2-d4 in)

4...Nf6 is more common, and after 5 Qe2 d5, I think White has two good choices:

6 d3!? is a KIA proper, yes, but it's normally the position White wants to get on the board when he goes 3 d3, for instance; e.g. 6...Be7 7 0-0 0-0 8 e5 Nd7 9 c4!, when White probably isn't better, but this feels a bit like playing into Black's hands.

There's also 6 exd5 Nxd5 7 0-0 Be7 8 Rd1 followed by d2-d4 (4...Nge7 5 0-0 d5 6 exd5 above is an improved version of this line), when I think White's a bit better, or at least more comfortable.
  
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Re: Beating the Anti-Sicilians by Kotronias
Reply #12 - 01/27/18 at 20:30:13
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Has anybody looked at Kotronias' coverage of 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3? Is he good on that?

I'm thinking of returning to an 2...e6 Sicilian, but since I last played it seriously, 3.g3 has become very popular. Most people seem to go for various IQP positions against it with Black, which I'm not a big fan of.

I was wondering if I could offer a King's Indian Attack transposition by playing 3...Nc6, 4...Nf6 or 4...Nge7, and 5...d5, and recapture on d5 with the knight if White exchanges. At least the database doesn't reveal any immediate problems with that. 3...Nc6 4.Bg2 Nge7 5.0-0 Nd4!? is also an idea apparently.

P.S.: It crossed my mind that White could be very crafty and play 3.g3 Nc6 4.d4 or 4.Nc3 followed by d4, to aim for a g3 Taimanov while avoiding the Kan.
  
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Re: Beating the Anti-Sicilians by Kotronias
Reply #11 - 02/25/16 at 04:40:39
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LeeRoth wrote on 02/25/16 at 04:13:00:
I'm a 2..e6 man myself, so I can't speak to the Rossolimo.  I skipped those parts.  But the 2.c3 recommendation seems OK, no?  Kotronios goes into depth, no doubt, but think it's a main line that's been recommended by others. 


He builds upon Aagaard's approach in Experts on the Anti-Sicilians, a very respectable way to play.
  
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