White lines against 2..e6 or 2...Nc6 in the Sicilian

Everybody has a repertoire against 2...d6. This is the place to discuss lines against 2...e6 and 2...Nc6

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Bg5

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Bg5

 and what if Qb6?

3. d4 works against both of them.  Here's some lines I like against them.

There are a lot of transpositional possibilities.  Black can use them to reach an independant line or to transpose to a something he likes while avoiding some lines, but of course White also gets more choices.

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Bg5 Qb6 5 Qxd4

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Bg5 Qb6 5 Qc1 e6 6 c3

If you want to be able to play a sideline against 2 ... e6/Nc6, starting with 2. Nc3 looks a lot more flexible than 2. Nf3.

As I am just beginning my exploration of White lines against the Sicilian, would somone please point me in the direction of a thread(s) etc. pertaining to repertpoires against 2...d6 and anything else critical?  Thanks.

Yes, when I started this thread, I had not yet looked at these lines. By the time you posted this, I had. I like them for white.

Here is the critical position after 2...d6:

After that, black has  two main lines:

A) 5...a6

B) 5...g6

Let's start with 5...a6:

This is the Najdorf Variation. Black wants to play a6-b5 and attack on the queenside as usual. The most Common line is 6.Bg5, and white plays 7.f4, with a pretty  good position:

White will put his queen on f3, castle Kingside, and will start an attack.

There are of course other ways to play against the Najdorf. My personal favorite is the Keres attack, which can be used against practically any Sicilian:

B) 5...g6. This is the Dragon Variation, because the structure of the black pawns looks similar to that of a dragon, and the B on f8 is usually a monster. Here I will give the main lines:

The open sicilian is my pet line against 2... d6 2... e6 and 2...Nc6.

like Bent larsen I agree that the open sicilian is a "cheap trick" but I am 95% certain that it doesnt throw away the draw and gives great practical attacking opportunities.

Some people dont like playing the open sicilian because they say you are giving black the type of game he wants, But every black player likes anti sicilians if he plays c5 because at patzer level anti-sicilians are even more common then the open sicilian.

My current repertoire(it changes all the time):

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cd 4.Nd4 Nc6 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cd 4.Nd4 a6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Qd3

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cd 4.Nd4 g6 5.c4

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cd 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bf6 gf 10.Nd5 f5 11.g3

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cd 4.Nd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cd 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5

Thanks.

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Qb6

3.d4

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Qb6 3 d4 cd4 4 ?

3.c3

As well as 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.c3 

Ever try 2 c3, Fixing?

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cd 4.Nd4 Nc6 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 the old main line of the Taimanov, leading to a hedgehog with Na3, shouldn't really trouble players choosing Taimanov.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cd 4.Nd4 a6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Qd3 seems quite problematic for black. The endgame recommended by Delchev 7...Nc6 8dxc6 etc doesn't look very promising based on the Carlsen WC game.

So personally will risk 4...a6 rarely, find quite a few of the Kann lines quite strange.