3 Check Opening Ideas For Black In the French Sicilian: Part 2 (5. Nb5)

• Play e6-e5 to claim space in the center and to open the light squared Bishop. Later you can use your central pawns to attack in the center.
• Be careful about advancing your central pawns too early as you might create weak squares in your position that your opponent's pieces can exploit. It's often best to get in a few developing moves and castle before attacking in the center.
• Play a6 to force the Knight on b5 to make a decision.
• Look for opportunities to give a check on the a5-e1 diagonal.
• Try to use the open g-file to your advantage.
• If the g-file does not become open then castle Kingside and play for the e5-e4 pawn advance.
• Look for opportunities to sacrifice your Queen on h2 if White castles Kingside. 

Where to put your pieces?

• The Queenside Knight goes to c6. Look for opportunities to play Nd4, Nb4 or Ne5 later on.
• The Kingside Knight goes to f6 as a sacrifice in exchange for central control and the open g-file.
• The Queen should go wherever the action is or where it feels best.
• The Kingside Rook goes to the open g-file. If you end up castling Kingside then you can leave this Rook on f8 for a while. Later it might come to the e-file or lift on the f-file.
• The light squared Bishop usually goes to g4 after e6-e5. If Whites plays h3 then drop your Bishop back to e6. Provoking h3 is useful because the pawn on h3 can be a target to attack.
• The King castles Queenside if the g-file opens up and can later move over to b8 or a8 where it will be safer. If the g-file does not open up then you should castle Kingside.
• The dark squared Bishop can go to d6, h6 or e7 depending on the situation. Sometimes you trade this Bishop for White's Knight on d6.
• The Queenside Rook can help to support action in the center if you castle Queenside. If you castle Kingside then this Rook should go to e8 to support the e5-e4 pawn advance.