Entering new tourney tomorrow. Need help answering black

I'm not yet ready to open with anything but e4. I like opening with e4. (I am not yet comfortable with d4 ) So I pray black will answer with e5. I can deal with that.

BUT, if black answers with c5... I will be swimming upstream in unchartered waters. The Sicilian really makes me feel uncomfortable and unsure.

Can anyone give me some quick emergency rescue tips on how to answer c5?

My rating has now dropped to somewhere around 995. Any help would be most welcomed.

stwils

Play either the KIA (King's Indian Attack) or Closed Sicilian with 2.Nc3 ... or just play and take your lumps learning the real thing.

KIA (King's Indian Attack) looks a good option

2.c3 tends to confuse/annoy most sicilain players and prevents them from playing their favorite variation

Just do Najdorf. Really simple watch a small video on it. Memorize a couple of lines. Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5KFk1RtGvA

Hope you find that helpful. =)

I play 2. Nc3 (which is normal) and 3. c3 (the Delayed Alapin).  I'm not sure whether the Delayed Alapin is a very good answer against 2...d6 (which many Sicilian players do) as Black could always play 3...Nf6, which can be problematic, unless there's something that I haven't noticed in my home prep (I'm not of the opinion that home preparation is just for masters!).

I have started to use KIA as a backbone of my repertoire. I think that helps me through the Opening phase properly.

Good luck in the tourney!

I tried to look up this King's Indian Attack in the Book Openings, and all the openings go 1. Nf3 d5.  Which Sicilian line are you guys talking about?

Chances are that at your level, nobody will play the sicilian. If they do, I doubt that they are experts in it, as people have said I think a good move for you would be c3, preparing d4 (and playing Nf3 if needed to support the d4 square). You'll probably end up just exchanging. From there just play spontaneously.

playing

1.e4...c5 2.d4 usually knocks people into uncharted waters, so you at least won't lose because they know their opening.

SensFan33, a lot of King's Indian Attack games are reached by a 1. e4 move order, for instance followed by d3, Nf3, g3, Bg2, 0-0... or something like that. You should be able to find games in the database with a similar move order. The reasoning is, I guess, that if your opponent plays a particular defense against 1.e4 you can still go into KIA (for instance, against the French or Sicilian) or decide to play a King's Pawn game.

The drawback, I believe, is that you can't always play KIA against every defense to 1.e4, like the Center-Counter (1...d5).

juts play, write down your games and share them with your ideas in the "Game Analysis" forum after the tournament.

Then you'll get lots of valuable help.

And don't worry : it's just a game !

I say, play some live chess, as black, and use the sicilian defense.  Maybe if you spend some time playing it as black, you'll get some sense of what blacks main ideas are in the various mainstream lines, and as a result, be better able to play against it as white.

I always use the closed sicilian, but also here you need to know some theory and more important the ideas behind this theory.

Maybe I could try that on Chessmaster. Sounds like a good idea to play the
Sicilian myself at least to help me become familiar with it.

stwils

 This video was indeed helpful. Thanks for sending it.

stwils

I agree with most others.  Kings Indian Attack.  Their are others but this seems to be the most logical response to c5.  Best way to see what works for you is to try it.  Play black a few times.   

 Actually, the Najdorf might be the most COMPLICATED opening variation in all of chess.  In what way is the Najdorf "simple?"

If you don't want to/can't learn mainline Sicilian opening theory, I'd recommend an Anti-Sicilian like 2. c3 or 2. c4.

If you're entering a tourney tomorrow with no time to study anything else, I would recommend the Bb5 lines -- 1.e4 c5  2.Nf3 Nc6-or-d6  3.Bb5.  They're solid enough, and will avoid the main Open lines that your opponent is probably accustomed to.