kylemeister wrote on 02/14/16 at 19:38:41:


The "weird g3 stuff" were mostly weaker club players, but some pretty strong (2100ish) club players didn't know what to call it.

In my experience, a surprising number of people didn't know the name of 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3, thinking that The Catalan was a flank opening often arising from a Reti-like move order.  Or they didn't understand which positions were a Reti or which a Catalan.  

But anyway the point is that I played the opening that I was passionate about and didn't care what others thought.  It's not as if the OP is considering two vastly different openings, he'll just have to decide which of the sub-variations of the Sicilian he likes more.

Then play both the Najdorf and the Dragon until you decide which one you prefer (or continue mixing and matching forever!).  Most of your anti-Sicilian repertoire will be identical, and there are some advantages to being willing to transpose from one variation to the other (playing 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6, for instance).  

I play all manner of ...e6 Sicilians depending on taste: the Taimanov, Paulsen, Kan, and some Scheveningen lines, as well as occasionally playing the Kalashnikov.  I sharpened my teeth on the Dragon years ago and can still play it occasionally (usually only non-Yugoslav lines, though).  This is really just something that you're going to have to figure out for yourself, there's no right or wrong answer.

Once you become a Sicilian player, you can play the Sicilian for life.  Much of your non-Open Sicilian repertoire can remain virtually unchanged for a long time, and you can pick up new Open Sicilian variations over the years as you want.  It's an extremely rich opening.  

I'm a very strong believer in playing openings that you, yourself, are interested in and passionate about, the ones that you feel are "yours," that you have some emotional connection and investment in.  So long as you're considering sound openings, I wouldn't listen much to what other people say about your openings.  People mocked me for playing "that weird g3 stuff" almost 20 years ago when I bought Winning with the Catalan by Dunnington; 7 years later they were saying "don't you play that same g3 line that Kramnik plays?", and now of course the Catalan is a huge main line known up and down the amateur ranks.  Don't care about what others think, just play what inspires you.

What are you asking us for exactly?  Just play whatever opening you're more interested in and passionate about, so long as it's sound.

I just want to reiterate that if you're 50/50 between the Najdorf and the Dragon, you should absolutely choose the Najdorf. 

I'm just going to say it, the Najdorf is a better defence than the Dragon. You can play the Najdorf from beginner up to World Champion. I don't think you can say the same about the Dragon. The only top player you have to follow in the Dragon is Jones, and even he has started to play it less frequently. With the Najdorf you're spoilt for choice, if you encounter a problem, see how the big boys handle it, from the top 20 in the live rating list alone you have: Giri, Nakamura, MVL, Topalov, So, Anand, Karjakin, Li Chao B, Grischuk and Mamedyarov that play it from; occasionally, to exclusively in the case of MVL. 

Also playing the Najdorf will never go out of fashion, it is one of the best defences available to Black after 1.e4. The only reason it's not played more at the top is because the Berlin is so good.

The key for me about this situation is it's a choice between the Najdorf and Dragon. If it was between the Najdorf and say Sveshnikov we could have some debate. But the Dragon... There is no need to have a debate, choose Najdorf.

If the choice is between the Dragon and Najdorf I would go for the Najdorf. 

Out of curiosity what do you play against 1.d4? Also what do you play against the Ruy as Black after 1.e4 e5?

Ambitious 2050 - 2100 currently playing 1 e4 e5 as black and wanting to add in the Sicilian.
Unsure whether to go for the Dragon or Najdorf. Not afraid of theory and hates simplification or forced draws. Any tips? I'm leaning towards the Najdorf, but wonder if I'm just following fashion!