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e4 conundrum


  • 13 months ago · Quote · #1

    NachtWulf

    IM Silman's recent article made me realize that I have a dangerous hole in my opening repetoire--against the hyper accelerated dragon! Usually, I play Bb5 against the Sicilian and play either the Rossolimo or the Moscow... but Bb5 does nothing against 2. ...g6. What options does white have on move three? Although I generally like playing sharp lines, I don't want to have to study boatloads of theory in order to survive against one opening that I don't often encounter.



  • 13 months ago · Quote · #2

    DrSpudnik

    You can play 3. d4 and if he takes, you take w the Queen and as soon as possilble play Bb5 or some such to get the B out of the way and castle.

  • 13 months ago · Quote · #3

    AnthonyCG

    Bc4 looks fine. 9...Nh5 10.g4 wins the knight.

  • 13 months ago · Quote · #4

    CerebralAssassin

    play the Maroczy bind against the accelerated.

  • 13 months ago · Quote · #5

    DrSpudnik

    efvaatn wrote:

    ok

    Huh? What's OK?

  • 13 months ago · Quote · #6

    DrSpudnik

    If you're worried about holes in your anti-Sicilian stuff, you'll have to come up with something against 2. Nf6, 2. a6 and 2. e6 as well.

  • 13 months ago · Quote · #7

    jetfighter13

    heck, most Sicilian players look for the main line unless they are dragon players, then the story is a bit different, hence the accelerated and hyper accelerated dragons

  • 13 months ago · Quote · #8

    Mezmer

    I'll second Cerebral Assassin with the Maroczy Bind. Here's a great article by GM Gserper with some ideas behind it:

    http://www.chess.com/article/view/botvinniks-legacy-part-two

  • 13 months ago · Quote · #9

    DrSpudnik

    The Maroczy Bind is not to everyone's taste. It produces a very different kind of game than what most people think of when they start with 1. e4

  • 13 months ago · Quote · #10

    NachtWulf

    I sometimes play the Maroczy bind without the hemmed-in light-squared bishop in Moscow lines, so the concept is nothing new to me. Where should the king's bishop go when playing against the hyper-accelerated, though? e2?

  • 13 months ago · Quote · #11

    MrBlunderful

    If you typically play the Bb5+ stuff, you're used to continuing with c3, d4, etc. in the mainlines over there anyway.

    Against an early ...g6, you just push out c3 and d4 a little sooner, and play Bb5 as soon as it makes sense to.

    No reason to reinvent your own personal wheel when you can steer lines back into perfectly sound theoretical familiar ground in short order.

    After:

    1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.c3 Bg7 4.d4...

    you're going to see ...cxd4 most of the time.  I presume you're going to take back with 5.cxd4 (or what was the point of c3 in the first place, right?).

    Then...

    5...d5 is most popular, and you have a choice.

    Either the exchange with:

    6.exd5 Nf6 (...Qxd5 7.Nc3 Qa5 Bb5+ is fine, I guess)

    7.Bb5+ and you're back in familiar ground

     

    Or if not the exchange, then the space-grabbing:

    6.e5 Bg4 (...Nc6 7.Bb5)

    7.Bb5+ and once again, play as you're comfortable.

  • 13 months ago · Quote · #12

    NachtWulf

    Interesting idea. c3 and d4 beckon an exchange of c-pawns, otherwise the black fianchetto'd bishop is going to stare ate the base of a pawn chain. The rest isn't too bad to deal with, it seems. Is there a book on this?

  • 13 months ago · Quote · #13

    NachtWulf

    As a matter of fact, are there any books on the Maroczy bind? At the moment, I am experimenting between playing the bind and following the mainline anti-sicilian lines. Eventually, I think I'd like to specialize in one, so as to focus my repetoire.

  • 13 months ago · Quote · #14

    MrBlunderful

    alexlaw wrote:

    that's one the reasons why i resign against e4 ...c5

    Interesting tack.  The ultimate anti-Sicilian.  Is there a link where I can subscribe to your newsletter?

  • 13 months ago · Quote · #15

    MrBlunderful

    NachtWulf wrote:

    Interesting idea. c3 and d4 beckon an exchange of c-pawns, otherwise the black fianchetto'd bishop is going to stare ate the base of a pawn chain. The rest isn't too bad to deal with, it seems. Is there a book on this?

    If there is, I would be flabbergasted.

    But in lieu of a book, how about this: "play Bb5 when you can, et voila!"

    It ain't exactly Grandmaster Repertoire, but I think it gets the job done.

  • 13 months ago · Quote · #16

    NachtWulf

    The problems with openings that aren't played by grandmasters are that they might be unsound and that I will have less material with which to learn. Of course I can always learn from observing a master play any opening, but I always find it helpful to observe how masters handle the pieces in games with imbalances similar to the imbalances I experience in games of my own.

  • 13 months ago · Quote · #17

    AnthonyCG

    MrBlunderful wrote:

    If you typically play the Bb5+ stuff, you're used to continuing with c3, d4, etc. in the mainlines over there anyway.

    Against an early ...g6, you just push out c3 and d4 a little sooner, and play Bb5 as soon as it makes sense to.

    No reason to reinvent your own personal wheel when you can steer lines back into perfectly sound theoretical familiar ground in short order.

    After:

    1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.c3 Bg7 4.d4...

    you're going to see ...cxd4 most of the time.  I presume you're going to take back with 5.cxd4 (or what was the point of c3 in the first place, right?).

    Then...

    5...d5 is most popular, and you have a choice.

    Either the exchange with:

    6.exd5 Nf6 (...Qxd5 7.Nc3 Qa5 Bb5+ is fine, I guess)

    7.Bb5+ and you're back in familiar ground

     

    Or if not the exchange, then the space-grabbing:

    6.e5 Bg4 (...Nc6 7.Bb5)

    7.Bb5+ and once again, play as you're comfortable.

    This is ok but I would note that this leads to posiitions similar to the Grunfeld/Catalan and not any sicilian.

  • 13 months ago · Quote · #18

    Dark_Falcon

    Play the Smith-Morra-Gambit against the Sicilian if you like sharp openings and you dont have to learn thousands of lines, which you will face once in a lifetime...

  • 13 months ago · Quote · #19

    TonyH

    if you want to see how to attack in the open sicilian Look at Emory Tate games. That guy is a monster in those type positions. (GM's learned to avoid open sicilains against him)

  • 13 months ago · Quote · #20

    MrBlunderful

    AnthonyCG wrote:
    MrBlunderful wrote:

    If you typically play the Bb5+ stuff, you're used to continuing with c3, d4, etc. in the mainlines over there anyway.

    Against an early ...g6, you just push out c3 and d4 a little sooner, and play Bb5 as soon as it makes sense to.

    No reason to reinvent your own personal wheel when you can steer lines back into perfectly sound theoretical familiar ground in short order.

    After:

    1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.c3 Bg7 4.d4...

    you're going to see ...cxd4 most of the time.  I presume you're going to take back with 5.cxd4 (or what was the point of c3 in the first place, right?).

    Then...

    5...d5 is most popular, and you have a choice.

    Either the exchange with:

    6.exd5 Nf6 (...Qxd5 7.Nc3 Qa5 Bb5+ is fine, I guess)

    7.Bb5+ and you're back in familiar ground

     

    Or if not the exchange, then the space-grabbing:

    6.e5 Bg4 (...Nc6 7.Bb5)

    7.Bb5+ and once again, play as you're comfortable.

    This is ok but I would note that this leads to posiitions similar to the Grunfeld/Catalan and not any sicilian.

    If you want Sicilians for Sicilians' sake, you're not using Bb5 lines as the foundation of your repertoire in the first place.


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