Ok.
I dont see why white plays d4 ?
Damn good question!
Your chess instinct, intuition is dead on target. It is true that White gets a nicely centralized knight on d4. And a temporary lead in development. But he does this at the cost of an essentially permanent advantage for Black. That advantage is that now Black has 2 central pawns at (e7 and d6) vs. White's 1 central pawn at e4.
This 2 pawns vs. 1 pawn advantage for Black in the center is but one factor of many that are important in the position after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4
Najdorf and mostly because most people think its good for black but its actually good for white.
When it comes to the Najdorf, the better prepared player is often the one with the best chances.
As Black I like the Accelerated Dragon, and as White I am happy to see any Sicilian at all, because then I know it will be a fight.
- Mike Petersen
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