3 Check Opening Ideas For Black In the French Sicilian: Part 9 (3. Bb5)
I have supplemented this section with games of other players. Some of these games show different move orders but they transpose to the same positions. Also bear in mind that many of these games are bullet or hyper bullet games so they may have more mistakes than usual but you can still see the ideas the players were going for.
Plans and ideas:
- If White plays Bxc6 then recapture with the b-pawn. If White does not play Bxc6 then you can transpose to Part 4 in this series (the 4.Bb5 line).
- Try to activate or trade your light squared Bishop.
- If White plays Ne4 before castling then play Ba6 to prevent White from castling.
- Try to use the open b-file to your advantage.
- At some point you can play f6 or f5 to get play on the f-file.
- Use your pawns in the center if given the chance.
Where to put you pieces?
- The Queenside Knight goes to c6 where it will likely be traded for White's Bishop. If White does not take this Knight then you can play Nd4 next.
- The Kingside Knight goes to g6 via e7. f6 is not a good square for this piece because e5 will chase the Knight away.
- The dark squared Bishop goes to e7 or d6/c5 if possible.
- The light squared Bishop goes to b7, a6 or maneuvers to the Kingside depending on the situation. If the center opens up then the Bishop will be well-placed on b7. If the center remains locked then try to trade this Bishop for a Knight via a6. If there is no Knight to trade for on e2 then you can try to activate this Bishop with the Bd7-e8-g6/h5 maneuver, similar to the Dutch Defense.
- The King castles Kingside.
- The Queenside Rook goes on the open b-file. Later you can try to lift this Rook to b4 and then slide the Rook over to the center or the Kingside.
- The Kingside Rook can be activated on the f-file with a timely f6 or f5.
- The Queen should go wherever the action is.
