5.f3!? in the open sicilian?

BigTy · 2009-04-26T18:48:14-07:00

I have faced this line,1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.f3, instead of the standard 5.Nc3 a few times now and it actually looks like a pretty good choice for white if he wants to avoid open sicilian theory but still play an open game against the sicilian. Sure it commits white to

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GMegasDoux

Oct 14, 2023

#21

F3 is innitial support for e4 pawn against the knight pressure; it also acts as a support for a g4 g5 push to get rid of the knight from f6. Note the bishop and knight covers the g4 square for black so an unsupported push for g4 g5 is impossible without f3.