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The Najdorf: An Uncomfortable Twist

The Najdorf: An Uncomfortable Twist

MikeRoesell
| 12 | Opening Theory

I think that there is no one on Chess.com that can disagree that I like the Sicilian defense.  From my articles I think that one is not on a Sicilian. This is because the Sicilian is what I know best.  I am a Najdorf player, following the example of Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov.  As such I enjoy playing against the Najdorf and that is because I have a special weapon. I learned this from one of my classmates.  He suggested that when I play against the Najdorf I should try this line to set up the game, following the main line for the Najdorf.  1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4.

I later found out that this is a common move that many great GM’s including Bobby Fischer have played with success. With subsequent research I want to do share what I have found with the chess players of Chess.com. The main response to the move 6.Bc4 is 6...e6.  One main move is 7.0-0 but I would suggest 7.Bb3 b5. The old way for handling this position as white is to play the Queen to f3 then to castle short. I would like to promote a different way for playing this position.  I would suggest that 8.Bg5 would work well for white.  This idea makes sense and is definitely documented, for example, the Poisoned Pawn Variation of the Najdorf.  Here is what I would suggest and promote.

         Well you may ask does 9...Qb6 do any better than Qc7. The answer that I would give is no.  And here is my reasoning.
          Does this line refute the Najdorf? NO!!! And am I glad for that because of all the time that I have invested to learn the theory of the Najdorf.  Does this line make things somewhat uncomfortable for a Najdorf player? Yep.  If your opponent doesn't know the line they will probably make a mistake and if you keep the pressure they are almost sure to slip unless they know the whole line. Thanks for the read and feel free to leave me feed back on this article and mistakes that I may have made.  Smile
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