IsaVulpes wrote on 11/14/19 at 17:39:34:


GM Mesgen Amanov has a course that includes Anti-Sicilians with d6 even against the Grand Prix Attack I think. https://www.ichess.net/shop/chess-openings-master-guide/

GM Ivan Salgado also has a course (In English) on chess24.com entitled Fighting the Anti-Sicilians which also features 2...d6
https://chess24.com/en/learn/advanced/video/fighting-the-anti-sicilians/introduc...

Lastly there is GM Lubomir Ftacnik's book Grandmaster Repertoire 6 - The Sicilian Defence for Quality Chess that also suggests 2...d6 against the Grand Prix Attack.
https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/products/1/49/grandmaster_repertoire_6_-_the_sici...

PatzerNoster wrote on 01/15/20 at 08:35:52:


https://www.alexcolovic.com/2020/01/anti-sicilians/ ; (Unfortunately this still doesn't answer the 4th move question in the Moscow.)

IsaVulpes wrote on 11/15/19 at 00:48:44:


I sort of got rambling off-topic in a Chessable thread and this line came up ... you might want to check out these email games where White is scoring pretty well ... not that they are necessarily a reason not to play the line over-the-board or that I know how well Black played (there are so many ways for him to vary) but could be good to be aware of some of the ideas

[Event "W-ch33 sf04 email"]
[White "Pirs, Matjaz"]
[Black "Lang, Matthias"]
[Site "ICCF email"]
[Round ""]
[Annotator ""]
[Result "1-0"]
[Date "2009.07.20"]
[WhiteElo "2436"]
[BlackElo "2444"]
[PlyCount "107"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. f4 e6 4. g3 b5 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. d3 d5 7. Qe2 Be7 8. exd5 exd5 9. Be3 Qd6 10. d4 c4 11. Nf3 Nf6 12. 0-0 0-0 13. Ne5 Nbd7 14. Rae1 Ne4 15. Nxe4 dxe4 16. c3 f5 17. g4 fxg4 18. Qxg4 Nf6 19. Qg3 Rae8 20. Bh3 Bd8 21. Bf5 Nh5 22. Qh3 g6 23. Bg4 Ng7 24. f5 gxf5 25. Rxf5 Nxf5 26. Bxf5 Rxf5 27. Qxf5 Rf8 28. Qh3 Kh8 29. Re2 Bd5 30. Rg2 Rg8 31. Rxg8+ Kxg8 32. Qg4+ Kh8 33. Bg5 Bf6 34. Qc8+ Kg7 35. Bxf6+ Qxf6 36. Qd7+ Bf7 37. Nxf7 Qxf7 38. Qxf7+ Kxf7 39. Kf2 Kf6 40. Ke3 Kf5 41. d5 Ke5 42. d6 Kxd6 43. Kxe4 Ke6 44. a4 Kd6 45. axb5 axb5 46. Kf5 Kc5 47. h4 Kb6 48. Ke4 Ka5 49. Kd5 Kb6 50. h5 h6 51. Kd6 Kb7 52. Kc5 Ka6 53. Kc6 Ka5 54. Kb7 1-0

[Event "Bielecki Memorial-A email"]
[White "Nickel, Arno"]
[Black "Papenin, Nikolai"]
[Site "ICCF email"]
[Round ""]
[Annotator ""]
[Result "1-0"]
[Date "2012.03.01"]
[WhiteElo "2643"]
[BlackElo "2729"]
[PlyCount "83"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. g3 b5 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. d3 e6 6. Nf3 d6 7. 0-0 Nd7 8. Qe2 Qc7 9. Nd2 Ne7 10. f4 Nc6 11. f5 Nf6 12. fxe6 fxe6 13. Bh3 Be7 14. Nf3 Bc8 15. Be3 Nd4 16. Qg2 b4 17. Na4 Bd7 18. b3 Nxf3+ 19. Rxf3 0-0 20. g4 d5 21. g5 dxe4 22. dxe4 Nh5 23. Raf1 g6 24. Nb2 Ng7 25. Bf4 e5 26. Be3 Bb5 27. Rxf8+ Rxf8 28. Rxf8+ Bxf8 29. Qg4 c4 30. Nxc4 Bxc4 31. bxc4 Bc5 32. Bf2 Bxf2+ 33. Kxf2 Qxc4 34. Qc8+ Qxc8 35. Bxc8 a5 36. Ke3 Ne8 37. Kd3 Nd6 38. Be6+ Kf8 39. Bd5 Nb5 40. Kc4 Nd4 41. c3 bxc3 42. Kxc3 1-0

[Event "RCCA Silver email"]
[White "Staroske, Uwe"]
[Black "Budkin, Gennady Aleksandrov"]
[Site "ICCF email"]
[Round ""]
[Annotator ""]
[Result "1-0"]
[Date "2012.12.15"]
[WhiteElo "2414"]
[BlackElo "2377"]
[PlyCount "93"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. f4 b5 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 e6 6. d3 d5 7. f5 d4 8. fxe6 dxc3 9. exf7+ Kxf7 10. Nf3 cxb2 11. Bxb2 Nh6 12. 0-0 Kg8 13. Qd2 Nc6 14. Ng5 Nd4 15. c3 Be7 16. cxd4 Bxg5 17. Qc2 Ng4 18. Qb3+ c4 19. dxc4 h5 20. c5+ Kh7 21. Qf7 Qe7 22. Qxh5+ Nh6 23. Qe2 Bd5 24. e5 Qe6 25. Bxd5 Qxd5 26. h4 Be7 27. Qg2 Rhd8 28. Qxd5 Rxd5 29. Rac1 Kg8 30. Kg2 Rc8 31. Kf3 Kf7 32. Ke4+ Ke6 33. c6 Rc7 34. Rc2 b4 35. Bc1 Ng4 36. Rf4 Nxe5 37. dxe5 Rxe5+ 38. Kf3 a5 39. Bb2 Rc5 40. Re2+ Kd6 41. Bxg7 Kxc6 42. Rf7 Bd8 43. Rxc7+ Kxc7 44. Be5+ Kd7 45. h5 Bg5 46. Bg7 Rc6 47. Rh2 1-0

["Champion's League 10/C7 email"]
[White "Pirs, Matjaz"]
[Black "Boronowskis, Peter"]
[Site "ICCF email"]
[Round ""]
[Annotator ""]
[Result "1-0"]
[Date "2010.01.25"]
[WhiteElo "2540"]
[BlackElo "2279"]
[PlyCount "49"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. f4 a6 4. g3 b5 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. d3 d5 7. f5 exf5 8. Nxd5 Nf6 9. Qe2 fxe4 10. dxe4 Nc6 11. Nf3 Be7 12. Bf4 0-0 13. 0-0-0 Nxd5 14. exd5 Nb4 15. d6 Bf6 16. Kb1 Re8 17. Ne5 Nc6 18. d7 Rxe5 19. Bxe5 Bxe5 20. Rhe1 f6 21. Qg4 Kh8 22. Qe6 Na5 23. Bxb7 Nxb7 24. Qc6 Rb8 25. Rd5 1-0

[Event "SLO-ch15 sf01 email"]
[White "Pirs, Matjaz"]
[Black "Claridge, John Bleddyn"]
[Site "ICCF email"]
[Round ""]
[Annotator ""]
[Result "1-0"]
[Date "2010.03.30"]
[WhiteElo "2540"]
[BlackElo "2383"]
[PlyCount "59"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. f4 b5 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 e6 6. d3 d5 7. f5 d4 8. fxe6 dxc3 9. exf7+ Kxf7 10. bxc3 Be7 11. Nf3 g6 12. 0-0 Kg7 13. Ne5 Bf6 14. Bf4 h6 15. a4 Nd7 16. Nxd7 Qxd7 17. e5 Bxg2 18. exf6+ Nxf6 19. Kxg2 g5 20. Be3 Rac8 21. axb5 axb5 22. h3 Rhf8 23. Qd2 Rce8 24. Kh2 Qd6 25. Rae1 Nd7 26. Rxf8 Rxf8 27. Qe2 Nf6 28. Bf2 Re8 29. Qd1 Re5 30. Qb1 1-0

[Event "Carls Memorial-A email"]
[White "Staroske, Uwe"]
[Black "Serradimigni, Robert"]
[Site "ICCF email"]
[Round ""]
[Annotator ""]
[Result "1-0"]
[Date "2013.09.11"]
[WhiteElo "2414"]
[BlackElo "2564"]
[PlyCount "95"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. f4 b5 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 e6 6. d3 d5 7. f5 d4 8. fxe6 fxe6 9. Nb1 Nf6 10. Nf3 Bd6 11. 0-0 e5 12. a4 0-0 13. c3 Kh8 14. axb5 axb5 15. Rxa8 Bxa8 16. Na3 Bc6 17. c4 b4 18. Nb5 Be8 19. Bh3 h6 20. Nxd6 Qxd6 21. Nh4 Nc6 22. Nf5 Qd8 23. Qd2 Ng8 24. g4 Kh7 25. Qg2 g6 26. g5 h5 27. Nh4 Rxf1+ 28. Qxf1 Qd6 29. Bd2 Nd8 30. Be1 Nf7 31. Nf3 Ne7 32. Bg3 Kg7 33. Qa1 Nc6 34. Qa6 Qc7 35. Bc8 Bd7 36. Bb7 Bg4 37. Bxc6 Bxf3 38. Kf2 Bg4 39. h4 Bc8 40. Qa8 Be6 41. b3 Bc8 42. Bd5 Nd8 43. Kg2 Ne6 44. Qc6 Qxc6 45. Bxe5+ Kf8 46. Bxc6 Ke7 47. Kf3 Bd7 48. Bb5 1-0

[Event "ICCF GMN/023 email"]
[White "Pirs, Matjaz"]
[Black "Boccia, Mattia Mario"]
[Site "ICCF email"]
[Round ""]
[Annotator ""]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Date "2010.07.20"]
[WhiteElo "2559"]
[BlackElo "2465"]
[PlyCount "65"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. f4 b5 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 e6 6. d3 d5 7. f5 d4 8. fxe6 fxe6 9. Nce2 e5 10. Nf3 Nc6 11. 0-0 Nf6 12. a4 b4 13. Bh3 Bc8 14. Bxc8 Qxc8 15. Bg5 Be7 16. Bxf6 Bxf6 17. Nc1 0-0 18. Nb3 Nd8 19. Nfd2 Nb7 20. Nc4 Qe6 21. Kg2 g6 22. Qe2 Rac8 23. h3 Kg7 24. Qg4 Qxg4 25. hxg4 Rce8 26. Rf2 Re6 27. Nbd2 Bd8 28. Rxf8 Kxf8 29. Rh1 Re7 30. g5 Kg7 31. Kh3 Bc7 32. Nb3 Rf7 33. Kg2 1/2-1/2

[Event "ICCF GMN/027 email"]
[White "Vohl, Gregor"]
[Black "Pitkaenen, Juhani"]
[Site "ICCF email"]
[Round ""]
[Annotator ""]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Date "2011.02.20"]
[WhiteElo "2477"]
[BlackElo "2500"]
[PlyCount "43"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. f4 b5 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 e6 6. d3 d5 7. f5 d4 8. fxe6 fxe6 9. Nce2 Nf6 10. Nf3 Nc6 11. Nf4 e5 12. Nd5 Be7 13. 0-0 0-0 14. Nh4 Nb4 15. Nxe7+ Qxe7 16. Bg5 Bc8 17. a4 Rb8 18. axb5 Rxb5 19. Nf5 Bxf5 20. Bxf6 Qxf6 21. exf5 Qd6 22. Be4 1/2-1/2

[Event "W-ch37 sf05 email"]
[White "Schuetze, Manfred"]
[Black "Riedener, Toni"]
[Site "ICCF email"]
[Round ""]
[Annotator ""]
[Result "1-0"]
[Date "2013.06.20"]
[WhiteElo "2448"]
[BlackElo "2433"]
[PlyCount "75"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. f4 b5 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 e6 6. d3 d5 7. f5 d4 8. fxe6 fxe6 9. Nce2 e5 10. Nf3 Bd6 11. 0-0 Nf6 12. c3 Nbd7 13. Nh4 0-0 14. Nf5 Qb6 15. cxd4 cxd4 16. g4 Kh8 17. g5 Ng8 18. Neg3 g6 19. Nxd6 Qxd6 20. Bd2 Nc5 21. Rxf8 Qxf8 22. Qe2 Qe7 23. Rf1 a5 24. b4 Ne6 25. bxa5 Nxg5 26. Qd1 Nh6 27. Qb3 Ngf7 28. Bh3 Bc6 29. a4 bxa4 30. Qb6 Be8 31. Be6 Qa7 32. Qb4 Ng8 33. Ba2 Kg7 34. Rf2 Qe7 35. Nf5+ gxf5 36. Rg2+ Ng5 37. Qc4 Bf7 38. Qc6 1-0

[Event "Borisenko Memorial email"]
[White "Budkin, Gennady Aleksandrov"]
[Black "Pichushkin, Vladimir Alekseevic"]
[Site "ICCF email"]
[Round ""]
[Annotator ""]
[Result "1-0"]
[Date "2013.02.01"]
[WhiteElo "2393"]
[BlackElo "2361"]
[PlyCount "97"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. f4 b5 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 e6 6. d3 d5 7. f5 d4 8. fxe6 dxc3 9. exf7+ Kxf7 10. Nf3 cxb2 11. Bxb2 Nh6 12. 0-0 Kg8 13. Qd2 Nc6 14. Ng5 Nd4 15. c3 Be7 16. cxd4 Bxg5 17. Qc2 Nf7 18. Qb3 Qe7 19. dxc5 Be3+ 20. Kh1 h5 21. c6 Bxc6 22. Rf3 Bd2 23. Qc2 Rd8 24. Qxc6 Ne5 25. Bxe5 Qxe5 26. Rd1 Rh6 27. Qc2 Bc3 28. Rf5 Qc7 29. Qb3+ Kh8 30. Rdf1 Qc8 31. e5 h4 32. g4 h3 33. Bd5 Re8 34. e6 g5 35. d4 Bd2 36. e7 Bf4 37. Qb4 Qd7 38. Rf8+ Kg7 39. Rf7+ Kh8 40. Qc5 b4 41. Rf8+ Kg7 42. R1xf4 gxf4 43. Rxe8 Qxe8 44. Qc7 f3 45. Qe5+ Kh7 46. Be4+ Kg8 47. Qg5+ Kf7 48. Bd5+ Re6 49. Qf5+ 1-0

IsaVulpes wrote on 11/15/19 at 00:48:44:

In my opinion 2...a6 is a very good move, but every move except checkmate (or in certain scenarios stalemate) has some downside. There is a chesspub thread on 2...a6 which might answer your question.
https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1091107713/all

In the 1970s strong GMs could be found playing either color in the line 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 a6 4.g3. No doubt black is fine, but some care is required. Not like this:
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1142627

Does Huschenbeth cover 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 a6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qd2 ... ?
Edited:

IsaVulpes wrote on 11/15/19 at 00:48:44:


Vachier Lagrave's older games he was going 2 Nc3 a6, but lately he is going 2 Nc3 d6 ... but I couldn't tell you why he switched.  The 2 Nc3 a6 seems to me to sometimes become a bit "French" (say if White plays f2-f4, Black plays d7-d5 and White plays e4-e5) which didn't really appeal to me, but I don't know that it's bad.

"The Sharpest Sicilian" from Chess Stars 2012 covers 2 Nc3 a6 and 2 Nf3 d6 deviations but not stuff like 2 c3.

an ordinary chessplayer wrote on 11/14/19 at 22:58:04:

Huschenbeth gives 2..a6 there, and I actually quite liked his coverage. Does that have any "downsides"?

BeeCaves wrote on 11/14/19 at 19:03:36:

The Sveshnikov isn't really an option for me, not a fan of the opening at all.
If anything, I'd go with the Taimanov (van Kampen covers the Antis a bit in his c24 series, as well - but again, with a 2..e6 start), that had been my "original" plan prior to seeing this Vigorito book, but the Najdorf IS a bit more tempting at this point in time.

I have no issue with reading books

Quote:

I did mean the Salgado one, but my quick impression from a glance was that he mostly just follows one given mainline, without branching too much for White or explaining anything on the path - it's been a relatively common facet of such types of opening vids for me that I watch them multiple times, and then am out of book on move 3 or 4 anyway, without a real idea how I'm supposed to continue. But I can take another look.. that would certainly be the simplest option.

Quote:

The Moscow I actually was the least concerned about for the moment, I figured if I just go 3..Nd7 then the current mainline is this 0-0 a6 Bd3 stuff, and if Black goes ..e5 there somewhere, it just turns into a Ruy - which isn't exactly something I wanted to play the Najdorf for, but as my "main weapon" is already 1..e5, I figured I should be quite at home in the arising positions.

E: aha, I just found a german series by Huschenbeth on c24. That might be decent..

Hi,

I just read the Vigorito excerpt on the Najdorf, and was blown away. As far as one can tell by a few promotional sample pages, this is excellent!

So, while happy with my current 1..e5, I am very heavily considering to pick up the Najdorf on the side, to cover some of my weaker areas (tactics, calculations, whatnot).

However, preparation should be reasonably practical. Facing ppl in the 1800-2200 range, I know that at least half, if not the majority, go with some sort of Anti -
Meaning that learning 540 pages worth of Najdorf, and then losing 50% of my games in it to 2.c3 and the likes, is not the greatest way of going about things.

With Vigoritos book just loosely mentioning Antis at all in some Appendix, I'd thus need a secondary serious source for them - but the market feels very dry?

There's the old "Experts vs Antis", some GM Rep by Kotronias, technically the TonyRo Kalashnikov book (but that's obviously on 2..Nc6), and a rather cursory-seeming video on chess24, none of which I'm perfectly happy with.

What did you use to learn at least the main ones, when picking up the Sicilian? Or what would you recommend now?
2..c3,2..Nc3,GPA,3.Bb5+,KIA, don't know if I forgot one (Morra just transposes to 2.c3 yeah?)
I've looked around a bit, but for how prominent they are - especially at amateur level - , there barely seems to be any material around?