Best way to attack the Najdorf as White?

Nice one, very sharp game ! Wasn't the gxf line analysed in Lepeshkin's book back in the day? I had some fun playing the Black side of the gxf line as a junior, nobody was prepared for it !

Here's another of my old OTB tournament Najdorfs, this one playing as Black.

I see, that was 8 years too late for your game. What do you think of the book btw? It had handed to me some wins on a plate during ..the previous century but I certainly was not in a position to challenge the analysis when I played the Najdorf, while later, when I probably would had been able to look at it with a critical eye, I had already stopped playing the Najdorf. Today I have no clue where my copy of the book is, probably in some box with teddy bears 😁

As has been explained ad infinitum over the years, there is no such thing as "best" opening. It is like going to the doctor saying you're sick and want the "best" medicine without giving your symptoms - every person and situation is different. There's no point in playing the theoretical "best" if you go down a risky GM line you don't know very well and are mated soon after. In that sense the "best" opening is the one that works for you. You may as well be on Amazon and asking for what's the best teapot to get or what's the best wallpaper. Even going from one level to another - at <2200 Evan's Gambit or King's Gambit are I think still mighty fine strong white openings. But try playing them in an elite field and they're total suicide.  

I like to castle kingside against the Najdorf and with 6. Be2, a4 and ideas of Qe1-g3, Rd1 putting pressure on the backward pawn, f4, a rook lift to the 3rd rank at an opportune time - it is also just as razor sharp as queenside castling. There is a world of ideas and principles in it that black may not be so familiar with if he always sees the queenside attack. A justification is that the queenside attack is more suited against dragons because of of the weaker pawn structure. I admit that theoretically the queenside attacks are probably objectively "better", but due to how rare the Opocensky variation is there exists an ecological "niche" allowing it to survive and thrive because people aren't so familiar with how to defend against it. Carlsen has routinely used it in big games.  

Opocensky was Karpov's favourite as well. Karpov-Nunn was an amazing game and actually the type of game a Najdorf player wouldn't enjoy, slow built-up from White leaving very little room for counterplay. Efim Geller was also fond of this line, see e.g. Geller-Fischer game. Karpov's games against Polugaevsky were also great in this line. Fischer played it on occasion as well, though he preferred Bc4. It's a great line, if I were playing e4, which I'm not, I'd probably choose the opocensky Vs the Najdorf 

Gligoric book is great, I still have it !

6 Be2 is a fine choice, but it’s unlikely to be a surprise. It’s quite common at the club level. But no reason to let that discourage you if you have a good grasp of the positional ideas. 

Honestly, at the club level (and in intermediate online level) I find Bg5 to be oddly rare. I’m even more surprised by the frequency with which those who do play it don’t know how to follow it up. 

So if you want to put in the work, 6. Bg5 gives you a chance to play a very dangerous line that many Najdorf players these days don’t actually have that much practical experience with. 

Here, for instance, is a mistake that I've seen with surprising frequency from even A-level or Expert-level players.  Which tells me that very few people are playing the main line against them. Study this particular error, and you're likely to pick up a few wins, now and again.

Yes, it's very easy to get "move-ordered" in the Najdorf.

Here's another of my old OTB games:

indeed. I once took my chances and decided to play in a Sicilian Najdorf Thematic Daily tourney here (I forget when) a few years ago. I really wanted to test how strong I was, but mostly I was really curious about my Peer's play: how they thought about certain positions I made observations, maybe get a different perspective, glean some new ideas. Cool. But then, man... I had to really think of how I would go about it as white though? I had already made up my mind that I would actually play for a draw (because I only played d4 up to that point in my chess life and never had to play any lines against it except in my own analysis & practice games even then from a defensive point of view) soo as to not give away any weakness should they mimic my own play as white. Heh. Cool. Soo okay, I got it~I game prepped Fischer-Sozin Attack & 6. Bg5. I figure I wouldn't play anything obscure (6. h4, 6. g3 etc), because I was thinking my opponents were well versed as I was. And like someone said here, I didn't want to play the common lines (6. Be2, 6. Be3) because frankly I didn't want to get too deep in theoretical stuff as white. I considered 6. f4, but then, I didn't want to get exposed too early to tactical endeavors. I chose those two mainly to show agression, yet with enough strategic resources to use when "rebounding" (in this case, if I hit & then miss my attacks) 😬. My two cents as it is guys. (I came in 7th btw stinks). Happy New Year's 🥳

Totally agree

First NM I beat was in 1976 in the line 10. e5 Bb7 11. Nxe6 then Qh3.  I guess computers have made it uninteresting.  It was lots of tactics and he was likely better as the smoke started to clear and then he missed a 2 move tactic.

There are also some lines in the Gotenburg Deferred with a very similar e5 => Nxe6 => Qh3 idea. The Gotenburg h7-h6 move weakens the g6 square (and the light squares generally), so it's not surprising that it encourages the possibility of a Knight sacrifice on e6.

Awesome games guys, thanks for sharing.

I think it's ok to use the thread for anyone else looking for advice.

I was also interested on what you guys play against Kan and Taimanov. I don't find the e6 sicilians as intuitive as Najdorf or other d6 sicilians personally. (I might make a separate thread for it.)

To be honest, against 2. ... e6 I play 3. d3 and head into a King's Indian Attack after 3. ... d5 4. Nd2.

Here's an OTB Tournament game in that line (by transposition) that I played in Edmonton against an 1850 player, in the 1978 New Brunswick Provincial Championship.

,,, so I usually deal with the 2. ... e6 variation by transposition to a KIA. Against the 2. ... Nc6 variation I used to play the Velimirovic Attack.

Why? That's a very sound response. It's the top move and it isn't complicated.