Whattt that's like one of my favourite openings!
Bowdler against the Sicilian is underrated.
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17 hrs ago
0
#3
The bowdler doesn’t require deep study because there is nothing remarkable about the patterns that arise. You cannot find a more generic position in the Sicilian. Sicilians wind up in these generic, equal positions all the time. It's not something new.
The Sicilian isn’t completely algorithmic, there are patterns and ideas that recur throughout it, you do not need to have studied every position to play it and really that’s impossible at a certain point.
in your game black weakened his kingside unnecessarily and his lsb was a large pawn. He made mistakes in his principle approach to the position. You did not win because the bowdler is a good line, it isn’t… it achieves nothing more than an generic, equal Sicilian position. Yes it is possible to win equal positions - about half the time we’d expect it. Had he pinned your knight and kept that bishop on the kingside to protect it along the diagonal you would have had a much worse game. And it’s fairly obvious the lsb belongs over there, these are not complicated positions
The Bowdler with a3 IS surely bad. 4...Nf6 is probably already better for black.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bc4 3...a6 is best, not 3...Nc6 and also not 3...d5.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 was played by many strong players. Probably 3...Nf6 is best allowing e5.
4.e5 Ng4 5.Qe2 f6 6.exf6 Nxf6 7.0-0 e6 8.c3 d5 with an unclear French type position which is playable for black.
14 hrs ago
0
#5
Playing 2...e6 shuts down the Bowdler. Coincidentally, my favorite Sicilian is the Taimanov; we do not even get there if white goes 2.Bc4.
Openings do not win, or lose games. Good or poor play does. And here Black lost time twice with rather useless moves, weakened his kingside, then castled right there, and finally offered the game in a plate.
When I was facing the bowdler at lower levels, people always said “bowdler is bad, should be easy to face.” I took this advice seriously and thought it would be gone by 1900-2000 blitz. But people kept playing it and I became curious. Is it that bad ?
Then I understood something. No book ever address the bowdler deeply. Chessable repertoires stop on move 7 and says “black is better” But if you look at the position, white has easier play and plans. Black has a good position, but no targets, no pawn breaks.
And that’s the underrated part. You need to be a really strong player (more than 1900-2000) to play positions that don’t have breaks or targets. And that’s when the bowdler shines.
By the way, ALL the books and courses on the Taimanov ignore the bowdler, so the black player will be playing on your white preparation everytime if you play the bowdler.