RE: question on the Sicilian
I have had some horrible experiences playing the Sicilian, blown off the board most times.
Is it because I lack the positional vision ? or that my knowledge of the Sicilian and its transformations is severely lacking ?
The players I played with are better than me by 100 or 200 ELO, if that is supposed to mean something.
Thanks a lot 😀
Originally posted by legionnaireI don't even know the 'yugoslav' but trying to equalise as white seems a bit silly to me.White should get at least some kind of small advantage,if not a large one.Maybe you could give 2.Nc3 a try,or 2.c3 like someone else here suggested.Both are good systems that put a lot of people off.
Actually, I'll give a shot at answering my own question and ask what people think of the Yugoslav for white. I have only tried it once or twice but it seems to equalize nicely for white, and allows for firm control of the d file by white as soon as it opens. Any thoughts on this stratagem?
-mike
The Alapin and smith-morra gambit have both turned out to be fairly useful against sicilian defenses in some of my more recent games, particularly with individuals who aren't that comfortable with many of the main lines that come up from those moves.
Here's a question for black: In the dragon, to accelerate the fianchetto and castle I often find myself in the position where I have my dark bishop fianchettoed behind my king's knight at F6. What is the best way to avoid the dreaded Bg5 pin (to my queen) on that knight? I've tried developing it to E7 instead of F6 (this requires an additional tempo to play e6, but it's a good move nonetheless) and the same thing can happen with Bg5, while I have sacrificed control of e4 to white by playing Ne7 instead of Nf6. Any suggestions here?
White's dark bishop can be especially irritating if Bg5 is followed by Qd2 - which results in the loss of the fianchettoed bishop as well as having white's queen in an uncomfortably close position to my castle.
-mike
Originally posted by legionnaireIn the Dragon, I would avoid playing e6, which would cause the pin in the first place. Also, it weakens the dark-sqaures around your king. Bg5 is a book move in the Dragon and really is not that big a deal. If you want to avoid him exchanging your Bg7 then play Re8 so when he plays Bh6 you can play Bh8 without losing the exchange. Although in the dragon those wasted moves may give white some time. Also, look for tactics when he plays Bh6 as he loses some control over d4. 😀
The Alapin and smith-morra gambit have both turned out to be fairly useful against sicilian defenses in some of my more recent games, particularly with individuals who aren't that comfortable with many of the main lines that come up from those moves.
Here's a question for black: In the dragon, to accelerate the fianchetto and castle I often find my ...[text shortened]... ishop as well as having white's queen in an uncomfortably close position to my castle.
-mike
Originally posted by LivingLegendwell then it's the smith-morra declined
What if I (black) play 3. .. d5?
Olav
i personally think that d5 is the best way to decline the gambit as it meets the normal requirments of the sicilian to push d5 as soon as it is safe to do so
I met this in over the board play (a 1800 rated player aprox)
1. e4 c5
2. d4 cxd4
3. c3 d5
4. Qxd4 Nc6
5. Bb5 a6
6. Bxc6+ bxc6
this is how i proceeded to handle it, game eventually went to drawish endgame but with less than 5 min on my clock and 15 on my opponents, he turned down a draw (i was 1300 rated aprox at time also) and played on, i made an error with less than a min left on clock which let him gain an advantage which was possible to win from even though he was down to 3 min.
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Originally posted by SirLoseALotPaste this into your web browser:
I would like to see that game,but you didn't give any names.How can I search games by number?😕
http://www.redhotpawn.com/core/viewhistory.php?gameid=207687
If you store that string somewhere - eg as a shortcut, you can edit it to view any game you have the number of.
Originally posted by whitediscThe Sicilian is not really my cup of tea although I haven't done all that bad the few times I've tried it. It does seem to live up to it's rep as 'sharp' or double-edged. I either eat or get eaten with it...
RE: question on the Sicilian
I have had some horrible experiences playing the Sicilian, blown off the board most times.
Is it because I lack the positional vision ? or that my knowledge of the Sicilian and its transformations is sev ...[text shortened]... 200 ELO, if that is supposed to mean something.
Thanks a lot 😀
More to the point... a 200 point difference is probably going to be decisive no matter what opening you choose. At least it seems to be for me, either up the scale or down. Even 100 points means the opponent is noticeably stronger.
I think I read somewhere that someone 200 points higher will win 75% of the time. If that's true then even someone only 100 points higher than you should still win somewhere between 75% and 50%. Call it 2/3 of the time? That's just a WAG (wild assed guess) on my part!
Maybe the Sicilian is just not for you, have you tried any other Black responses?
Note: this is not to say that you shouldn't play against tough opponent's. On the contrary... it's the only way to slowly get better!
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- 26771
Originally posted by dmatzekActually, d4 instead of your recommended c3 didn't go too badly for me in this game, although my pawn structure never looks particularly well developed!
Hey all
If you know your opponent playing Najdorf or a sicilian dragon, why not test
e4 c5
Nf3 d6
c3
as the most popular variant on the 2.c3 sicilian is d5, i propose this
could be a variant with a strong centre, where white might not be forced to leave its d-pawn to its opponent's c-pawn, i just played it in some 5-min-Games, connected with the ide ...[text shortened]... also played the smith-morra in some 5-min-games, it's great fun attacking till one lies down😉)
http://www.redhotpawn.com/core/viewhistory.php?gameid=227902
Wouldn't c3 tend to constrict ones left-hand knight a bit?
If you know that your opponent plays the Najdorf, then there is an aggresive an interesting reply.
1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 a6
6. Tg1
With the idea of g4 and attack
This was played in Moscow 2002.
White. Vassily Ivanchuk
Black. Garry Kasparov.
And in fact it turned out that Ivanchuk won. Well if it works against Kasparov, why shouldn't it work at RHP.
Best regards
Banach, University of Copenhagen
Originally posted by BanachI see this variation a lot when I play the Sicilian, but I don't play 5. .. a6, but I play e6, or sometimes e5, but that isn't really good...
If you know that your opponent plays the Najdorf, then there is an aggresive an interesting reply.
1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 a6
6. Tg1
With the idea of g4 and attack
This was played in Moscow 2002.
White. Vassily Ivanchuk
Black. Garry Kasparov.
And in fact it turned out that Ivanchuk won. Well if it w ...[text shortened]... nst Kasparov, why shouldn't it work at RHP.
Best regards
Banach, University of Copenhagen
Olav