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zidayk asked, "what if black play nc6 instead of bd7 after white play Bb5. Any sample of games along that line?" My initial answer was, "One response is simply castling immediately, then just going with a transposition into Rossolimo lines. The other option is to play c3, preparing for a d4 break, leaving the light-squared bishop with the option of retreating to c2." Let's look at some example games.

Time to analyze this set of variations with the same depth as 3. ...Nf6. Game 52 Game 53 Game 54 Game 55 Game 56 Game 57 Game 58 Game 59 Game 60 Game 61 Game 62 Game 63 Game 64

The following lines are taken from Palliser's "The Bb5 Sicilian", although the annotations are of my paraphrasing. OTB games are always public domain, so I believe this does not infringe copyright. If anyone believes otherwise, let me know and I will delete this. Anyhow, enjoy the theory. Posting it helped me understand the book better, since it's easier to click back and forth than set up/rearrange pieces on a chess board.

Over the next days, I'll be updating this post several times. I do this to prevent my work from getting lost, but I appologize in advance for any cliffhangers in the meantime. The first step to understanding an opening is by glancing through the move sequence. Go ahead, flip through them! It soon becomes clear why Palliser deemed black's move choice as "bold and dynamic": black's audacious third move keeps all the pieces on the board, and allows rapid development by white! Why in the world, then, would black inflict such troubles on himself? 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 Palliser's explanation of the move is that the resulting positions are similar to those reached in the regular 'ol Open Sicilians, which the player of the black pieces was probably wanting to play in the first place. The pros who play this the most include: Viktor Bologan, Joe Gallagher, Farrukh Amonatov, Vladislav Nevednichy, and Evgeny Vorobiov. 4. d4 At the fourth move, white comes to a crossroad. 4. d4, as per the main line, thematically exchanges a central pawn for dynamic play through rapid development. The other option is 4. c3!? allowing white to play in the manner of the Ruy Lopez. 4. ...Ngf6 Attacking white's center while developing, this move is another move commonly seen in the Sicilian. However, black can transpose into Bxd7+ lines instead: 5. Nc3 Sacrificing with 5. O-O is also possible, since white gets lots of dynamism as compensation. Example of accepting the sacrifice: Declining the pawn after 5. O-O:

At a recent state tournament, I picked up two interesting chess books, one of which was IM Richard Palliser's "the Bb5 Sicilian: detailed coverage of a thoroughly modern system". I found it quite useful at several levels. First, the book covers both the Rossolimo and Moscow (Bb5+) variations. Thus, the book will cover about 1/4 of your games: assuming you play white half of the time, and given that 1. ...c5 occurs at least half of the time when you play 1. e4. Secondly, the book isn't too difficult of a read, as Palliser goes through the ideas behind different variations at each move, and includes several sample games to demonstrate main variations. I haven't finished the book yet (and am in no way an opening expert), but I've found it as an excellent reference point when I get stumped during the opening. Other great resources include: An instructive game by Kingscrusher (CM Tryfon Gavriel) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPGujmrp-j0&feature=plcp&context=C30a2aa2UDOEgsToPDskK9o51u1Ecjg22ElaOKSU6I An awe-inspiring game played by Malakhov: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1333175 Another interesting variant: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1292898 An instructive game of the Rossolimo by Lalic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpdr39atW2Q Yet another instructive game on the Rossolimo by Kingscrusher (starting around 54:15): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NNU3uZPf1I Another Canal-Sokolsky Attack video by Lalic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eRo2Yl3lbU Feel free to add any more. I'll update the OP if I find additions, myself.

I have been neglecting the Rossolimo for some time, so I thought I'd start by adding select games from the primary book. I'll start by simply inserting the games for my own convenience (the interface of flipping through games on chess.com is fantastic!), then come back for paraphrasing Palliser's specific analysis of each game, and ultimately return to give my own general analysis of the opening. Game 44 (numbering based on order in the Bb5 Sicilian) Game 45 Game 46 Game 47 Game 48 Game 49 Game 50 Game 51

At a glance, 4. c3 announces a couple of things. First, it provides an escape for the bishop after a6 and b5, just as in the Spanish. Secondly, it prepares a d4 push, with the idea of exchanging c-pawns with black on d4. I have little prior knowledge of 4. c3, so I'll start this thread off with one of the example games from Palliser's book. In summary, Palliser is trying to tell us that ...c4 is a pain in the ass that locks down d4. The above game demonstrates one attempt to kill off the pawn with a tactic, but black executes a solid punishment by capitalizing his light-square control. The moral of the story from is that if you want to play 4. c3, your plans will revolve around overcoming black's nuisance on c5. This is not to say 4. c3 is a bad move. Frankly, I am skeptical that white cannot have good results with it. More example games should help!

Thanks, I need to learn the line better so that I don't get in as much trouble next time. Any comments appreciated.

This arises when white gambits an e-pawn to take further advantage of fast development. Example game: