First of all I doubt anyone at your level is fluent in the Sicilian. They might have memorized a few lines but that's it. And I don't understand what you mean about d4. If white doesn't play 3. d4 then you are not really playing the real Sicilian, i.e. the open Sicilian. The essence of this is black wants an asymmetrical position and imbalances the game from move one with 1. c5. White pushes d4 and opens up the game getting a lead on development and aggressive play in exchange for giving up a central pawn for a flank one. I think and a lot of high rated players will back me up on this, but the open Sicilian is better for white.
You can also avoid this by playing something else than 3. d4 but then you enter the so called Anti-Sicilian openings such as the Alapin, Grand Prix Attack, Closed Sicilian, Smith-Mora gambit etc. Though by avoiding opening up the position immediately you give black some time to consolidate.
At the end of the day though anything goes in club level play. Play what you like and what you feel works for you. If you are not titled then games are mostly not decided by the opening unless you mess up or fall in some kind of trap.
Hey Guys. It's my first post here!
I've been trying to up my understanding of chess during the pandemic, and I've followed the advice of many good players and avoided becoming obsess about opening so far and devoted most of my time studying middlegames and endgames (I'm studying Silman's book about imbalance) yet I'm reaching a point where ignoring opening lines becomes an issue, especially when it comes to the sicilian opening and how to use it and how to respond to it. It seems to have been so examined over the previous decades, and most people seems fluent with it and knows in details its multiple variants, that it must be something I need to learn. But here's my question:
As I am learning to play the sicilian, I have no clue whatsoever why it is such a terrible idea for white to go on the D4 square, and that bothers me. None of the article and videos I've read or seen about the sicilian opening really discuss it. Is it really that bad for white to go on the D4?
I mean it is understood that the sicilian exists because of the threats on the D4 square, it's the big deal about it. And maybe it is where I'm wrong but it seems to me that it is taken as an undisputed fact that white is in a disadvantageous position if black takes that pawn. Numerous variant of the sicilian opening exist for white and for black just to avoid losing that pawn, but does the common player (let's say 1400-1600 ) who use the sicilian knows why it's such a good idea to take the D4, as in, would they be happy that white goes for the D4, or it's just a line they've been accustomed to or have blindy accepted that Black is superior in that position without truly knowing why?
So by curiosity I've checked about the Smith-Morra gambit, and it does not seem to be a terrible position. I mean, it is not a losing position. It is aggressive, yes, but playable, even among grandmasters ( highly uncommon, yes, but it has been seen). If it avoids learning a dozen of micro-variant of the sicilian just to avoid a square that does not put me in a losing position , It definitively sounds like an amazing idea, especially if it puts the sicilian player out of its comfort zone.
So let me know what do you think!
P.S. : I don't want to hear so much about GM, I'm more interested in local tournaments and stuff like that. What is your personal experience?