Anti Sicilians or the Open Sicilian?

I've always played Anti sicilians.The reason is that I wanted to not give sicilian players what they want by playing the main lines.But lately my results with the Grand prix attack and the closed sicilian have been depressing.I do alright when my opponets play non theorotical moves but in the main lines I find it difficult to play as white.I have Beating the Sicilian vol 1-3 by Viktor Bologan and was thinking about learning the open sicillian through it.Do you guys think I should?Ive heard that open sicillian is the best because it gives white rapid development and is easier to play than the anti sicillians.

     I treat the Sicilian in the same way ( avoid the main lines ) and for the same reasons. I chose the KIA route, because I can also play it againt the French, Caro-Kann and all the oddball stuff.

    I went through a phase where I thought I should try all the opening variations and see if something pops out as 'my thing.'

    My current thinking is to ignore oppenening study altogether and study the ending and tactics instead.

    Not simple, this chess thing, is it?

Steve

The main lines have been giving hardly anything for white lately, if youre opponent knows theory that is.

Anti-sicilian

The morra-gambit declined gives white zilch btw.

The Bb5 sicilians are about equal imo, BUT they offer a ton of play for the white side, its easier to play as white.

I mean you can also try the closed, which gives no advantage at all for white, and this doesnt matter really, it offers a lot of play for both sides.

does white really get an opening advantage in the open sicilian against the most reputable systems, like the najdorf?

"theoretically equal" as white isn't necessarily a bad result, and it doesn't mean "drawn"... and you might still have a familiarity or a playability advantage (easier to find moves for white)
the c3 and the Bb5 lines have served me well over the years.

of course you could also always switch from e4, at least against some opponents. :P

But the Bb5 lines cannot be played against e6.I find it boring too.

And no,I don't want to switch from e4.I'll stick with it.

I always play as black and I always play the Sicilian in response to e4. I actually prefer it when white uses an anti-Sicilian, so you would be giving me exactly what I want if you did that. This is because pretty much no one that I play goes into an open Sicilian (maybe 10% do at most) Because of this, I have become much more familiar with those so called anti-Sicilian openings than the open Sicilian, and I feel more comfortable in them. I especially like the Smith-Morra gambit, and I always accept the gambit. I also enjoy the Alapin, Grand Prix attack, and closed Sicilian too, oh and the Wing gambit, can't forget that hilarious little gem. Every white player has the same idea of avoiding the open Sicilian because they think black will know it better, as a result any Sicilian player you go against will have seen your chosen anti-Sicilian and know it better than the open Sicilian because it is quite rare for a white player to go into an open Sicilian.

Majority of the players i Know play the open Sicillian,only 5% or so play anti-sicilians.Whenever I watch games in FIDE tourneys,almost all the boards are open sicillian.Only 10% or so are alapin,Bb5,Grand prix etc.

That's in FIDE tournaments. Try as an experiment playing the Sicilian yourself as black for 10 games and see how many of those games go into an open Sicilian.

Snyder variation (1.e4 c5 2.b3!?) is known as Anti-Sicilian-Dragon opening.

Done it.I used to play the sicillian before.Ive played it in 20 FIDE rated games and 16 of them were Open sicilians.The other 4 alapin.

That's completely different from my own experience exclusively playing the Sicilian. Where perhaps a third of my games go 1.e4 c5 2. Bc4 (aka Bowlder attack) and I know this second move of bishop to c4 is being used a lot at all levels because there have been threads on here where all the Sicilian players are expressing disbelief at how common it is.

Pretty much no one playing as white will go into an open Sicilian. Every white player has the same idea of "I'm going to do something tricky and different and play an anti-Sicilian" but everyone is doing it so it's actually not different. If you want to surprise a Sicilian player go into the open Sicilian, I have become rusty at the open Sicilian lines because I never get to them in games.

But let's say you're right, and the Open Sicilian is really that common, then wouldn't it be best to stick to an anti-Sicilian? If everyone is playing the open Sicilian as you say then I imagine the anti-Sicilians will be quite a potent weapon, yet you say here you're having trouble using them. Why would that be? .(answer, it's because they're actually used a lot and the Sicilian player has probably played more games in them than you have)

I've never played anything but Open Sicilians. All the Sicilians I see posted on the forum seem to be Open Sicilians.

on internet chess, because people know they can look up lines/

OTB chess is completely different, few people want to go into risky theory. Like other posters have said, the majority I've seen in my tournaments are anti-sicilians.

Even though i haven't faced it much,I think they are some what popular.Surprising how so many of my opponents know so much Grand prix theory.I've decided to learn the Open sicilians,no harm in doing so.I'll use it in 3 or 4 tourneys and see if my results imrpove.If not I can always play the Grand prix attack.

Maybe at your level it is different, but I speak from my personal experience playing the Sicilian day in and day out. It is nothing but 2. Bc4, Alapins, Grand Prixs, Chechovers, Smith Morras, Wing gambits, etc.

And if white going into the open Sicilian is really as common as you say, then why would the OP be having trouble in the anti-Sicilians? If only 5% of Sicilian games (as likhit says) use an anti-Sicilian I imagine they would be potent surprise weapons that would completely smash black off the board every game. Yet here he is actually contemplating switching to the open Sicilian because the anti-Sicilians aren't working for him.

Edited to add Not that I don't think the anti-Sicilians are good. I use them myself against the Sicilian in the rare games I play as white, but this is because I have gained a lot of familiarity with them by having them used against me. All the anti-Sicilians are good openings, even the Smith-Morra, but you have to put the time and effort in to learn them because it's not going to be something black hasn't seen before, so you must know it better than black.

Although 1/3 of the games being bowlder attack is somewhat surprising.I've only faced that a few times in Blitz.Never even seen it OTB.

"And if white going into the open Sicilian is really as common as you say, then why would the OP be having trouble in the anti-Sicilians"

Because they aren't challenging for black.

Boring trolling.

I have been playing the Moscow/Rossolimo with mixed success lately against the Sicilian but someone brought up earlier a very good point- while I don't often face 2...e6, I want to know what the main lines against it are so I can know what to play if I see it. If anyone reads this, what is the main line against 2...e6 (maybe 3...d4 as usual(?)) and what are the "Anti-Sicilians" one can play against it? Thanks.

If you know pawn structures and where pieces belong you don't need lines.