Blogs
3 Check Opening Ideas For Black In the French Sicilian: Part 8 (4. d4)

3 Check Opening Ideas For Black In the French Sicilian: Part 8 (4. d4)

Avatar of TenThousandDays
TenThousandDays
| 5
Plans and ideas:

  • If White moves their Knight from d4 before they've reinforced f2 with Be3 then you can sacrifice your Queen on f2.
  • Otherwise play 7. Nxd4 to force Bxd4. Then follow up with e5 to gain better control in the center.
  • At some point play Bxc3 to double White's pawns. These pawns can be targeted in the endgame. However, don't try to win pawns at the cost of development. Always focus on piece activity and King safety over material.  
  • You should generally avoid playing d6 because you want to keep the 6th rank open for your Queen and Rooks to use.
  • If White plays an early f4 then play Ng4 and follow up with Qh6 and Bc5 if White plays Bg1 (see my complete analysis below).
  • At some point you can try to play for the d5 or f5 pawn break if needed to activate your light squared Bishop and to open lines for your Rooks.
  • Look for opportunities to sacrifice your Queen on g2, h2 or h3.

Where to put your pieces?

  • The Queenside Knight goes to c6 where you can exchange it for White's Knight on d4.
  • The Queen goes to f6. After you play e5 the Queen goes to c6 to prevent Bc4 and to allow Nf6. Later the Queen can slide over to the Kingside again.
  • The Kingside Knight goes to f6. e7 is also possible.
  • The dark squared Bishop goes to b4 to pin White's Knight. Exchange this Bishop on c3 as soon as White's Knight is no longer pinned.
  • The King castles Kingside.
  • The light squared Bishop goes to b7 where it applies some pressure down the long diagonal and can assist in Kingside attacks later.
  • The Kingside Rook can stay on f8 after castling to support the f5 pawn break. You can potentially lift this Rook to f6 later. If you don't activate your Rook on the f-file then you can bring this Rook to the c-file.
  • The Queeside Rook goes to c8 to put pressure down the c-file. You can also lift this Rook to c6 where it can slide over to the Kingside.

And here is my complete analysis showing some lines not included above:

3 Check Opening Ideas For Black In the French Sicilian: Part 9 (3. Bb5)