RdC wrote on 11/22/18 at 10:35:03:


RdC wrote on 11/23/18 at 11:11:53:

Thanks for confirming my objection to your first comment.

RdC wrote on 11/23/18 at 11:11:53:

Addressed in my first comment: 2...f5!? The knight is scarier on f6 than on b6.

6.Be2 Bg7 7.Nb3 O-O 8.Be3 Nc6 9.Qd2 Ng4 scores 5 wins for White, 4 draws, 11 wins for Black in my database.
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.d3 Be7 8. O-O Be6 9.Be3 Qd7 10.d4 and I wish you good luck castling queenside. Instead 10.Ng5 Bxg5 11.Bxg5 f6 12.Be3 O-O-O 13.Ne4 threatens 14.Nc5 and hence is also somewhat better for White, without a trace of an attack for Black.

RdC wrote on 11/22/18 at 11:02:48:


I guess it all depends on how "well read" the white player is.  If he plays the Dragon or has some knowledge of typical Dragon attacking plans it could be very risky playing this way as black.  Although ...a6 ideas are slow in the Dragon, white will have time for a3 and b4 due to the extra tempo - will that make a difference?

Back in the day I saw New England legend John Curdo play precisely your idea as black. His amateur opponent played a couple of natural but inaccurate "English" moves and was swiftly mated. As a novice with an 1196 rating and Levy's The Sicilian Dragon on my bookshelf, I knew that black was playing "inaccurately" and a tempo down to boot. Most probably white also knew the same. But not all English players are suited to the Open Sicilian. Interestingly, Curdo's white repertoire against the Sicilian was based on 3.Bb5(+), so this was unquestionably a case of playing the man.

BTW, google says Levy's book was published in 1972, but I don't think so. I distinctly remember Rd3! from Karpov-Korchnoi being in there, which would make it 1974 at the earliest.
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1067858
Maybe there was an earlier edition than the one I had.

snakebite wrote on 11/22/18 at 10:43:07:


What if Black gave the tempo back with 12. or 13. .. a6? A Dragon player would know that except for some lines of the Soltis, playing .. a6 is usually too slow. An English player could find slow moves like a3 and b4 natural.

I've concluded it's a possibly risky way to play for a win, but you aren't sacrificing material and the loss of tempi means you could call off the attack without your position being compromised.

I was also thinking that .. Nb6 isn't such a waste of time, given that it inhibits d4. I may even check its playability as Nb3 with White.

Well black will be a tempo down on a standard Yugoslav attack.  Whether white will actually take advantage of this is another matter.
I guess another way of thinking about it is what would you think of the following game?
1 e4 c5
2 Nf3 d6
3 d4 cxd4
4 Nxd4 Nf6
5 Nc3 g6
6 Be3 Bg7
7 f3 00
8 Qd2 Nc6
9 Bc4 Bd7
10 000 Rc8
11 Bb3 Ne5
12 h3 and then 13 h4.