Improving my Opening Repertoire 2 - The 2...d6 Sicilian

Introduction

These are the lines as White in which I feel most uncomfortable at the moment:

1. 2...d6 Sicilians (Najdorf, Dragon, Classical)
2. Pirc / Modern
3. Rubinstein French
4. Accelerated Dragon
5. Sveshnikov
6. Scandinavian
7. Alekhine with 2...d5
8. Nimzowitsch

Today's post will concentrate on finding some solutions to my problem with 2...d6 Sicilians only, as this is such a big topic. Special thanks to Bishop_g5 for his suggestions in the comments section of blog 1.

1.     2...d6 Sicilians

The Problem

My general problem here is largely lack of theoretical knowledge leading me to choose sidelines which are tricky but objectively not that great.

Against the Najdorf I used to play mainlines with 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 but never knew much theory. I now go for 7. Qe2!?, intending to drop the Bishop back to d2 after ...h6. This tends to work quite well in online blitz where players don't know the ins and outs of the line; for example:

But against strong opponents OTB or in Daily Chess the line doesn't hold up. The following game was especially unpleasant out of the opening:

Against the Dragon it's a similar story. I never knew much about the 9. Bc4 Yugoslav Attack, and so switched to 9. 0-0-0 and then taking the pawn after 9...d5 a couple of years ago. Essentially it's just a cheap trick. Twice I've had precisely the following line OTB:

But Black simply plays 16...Rac8! 17. Qa5 Rc3!, as shown in all good books on the Dragon, and we get an opposite-coloured Bishop position where the queenside dark squares are really weak and the extra pawn means very little. White has to be careful not to get mated and has few winning chances.

I think I have only played one OTB game against the Classical. I knew I would be facing it the night before the game, so I prepped the Richter-Rauzer rather hurriedly. As expected, I followed theory for 14 or so moves and then ended up in a position where I had no experience, and my opponent had a lot. I duly lost.

I have tried the 3. Bb5+ line in a few games, but, not playing the Ruy Lopez or the Italian, I'm not especially familiar with the structures.

Possible Solutions

Bishop_g5 came up with two possible solutions.

The first was to play the Fischer-Sozin Attack against the Classical and the Najdorf. I had briefly looked into the line before but never committed to it. It allows me to fulfil my desire to push my f-pawn while still being a well-respected line, and is similar to the line I use against the Accelerated Dragon. It also seems to be a line where general plans and ideas are more important than just knowing the moves, which should make it fairly easy to learn and understand. A good starting point is probably to go through Fischer's games in the line, as well as some more modern ones, and note down any important ideas.

That leaves only the Dragon as a problem. Bishop's suggestion against that was the 9. 0-0-0 d5 10. Qe1 Yugoslav Attack, which I would need to take a good look at. Alternatively I could try to transpose into my line against the Accelerated Dragon with 6. Bc4, but that gives Black an extra option of a quick ...a6 + ...b5 as the Knight is not yet on c6.

The second option is 2. Nc3, intending to move order my opponents out of lines I dislike:

• Against 2...d6 I play 3. f4 and get a good Grand Prix Attack without the problems of an early ...d5. Alternatively go for the Closed Sicilian with 3. g3, which I play against the English as Black.
• Against 2...e6 play 3. Nf3 and 4. d4 leading back to some kind of 2...e6 Open Sicilian.
• Against 2...Nc6 there is a pleasant choice between 3. Bb5, 3. g3 and 3. Nf3/4. d4 which I haven't decided yet.
• Against 2...a6 3. Nge2 looks interesting, intending 3...b5 4. g4!? which is original but looks quite entertaining. Again, 3...e6 can be met with 4. d4.
• 2...g6 can be met with 3. g3 and a Closed Sicilian.

There are only two potential issues that I can see. My preferred Sicilian Kan line is 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. c4 which is obviously not possible with 2. Nc3. Also, 2...e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. d4 d5 leads to some kind of French after 5. e5 or an IQP after 5. exd5, which isn't part of my repertoire. I could pick up the French line fairly quickly, though.

Currently I am leaning toward solution 1, as it requires less alteration to my current repertoire and doesn't have the slight snags that 2. Nc3 e6 does. In an ideal world it would be great to combine the two suggestions, playing both 2. Nc3 and Open Sicilians, but that might require too much effort, and is perhaps something for the future. For now I am going to go through typical ideas in the Fischer-Sozin Attack and try and learn the 10. Qe1 line against the Dragon. Tomorrow I shall try and get as far as I can with the other issues, which should take less time (and space!) than this one.