I think there is an opening for white against the sicilian called the "anti-sicilian"
How far can you get with your planned opening if your opponant doesn't play it?
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The only thing I can think of is try to steer the opening towards something more familiar. Perhaps try to steer the sicilian to more of an english opening, turn a queen's gambit into a french, whatever.
Feb 20, 2009
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#4
Don't do it! Hanging on to your favorite moves in spite of what your opponent does will cause you to lose. Try to react to what your opponent does.
Feb 20, 2009
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#5
The Ruy Lopez can onlly be played against 1...e5. Learn something simple against the Sicilian (almost impossible to do, I am having difficulty with it myself!) or just follow opening principles, steer the game into a comfortable middle game and just play!
OG
OG, I would've thought the Smith-Morra would do it for you?
Feb 20, 2009
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#7
I played it for a little while, but I didn't get on with it. Now I'm playing the Closed Sicilian (or trying to!)
Have I played you Nytik? Do I know you?
OG
I rarely play 1.e4 but when faced with the Sicilian always play 3.Bb5, trade the B (if forced) then play O-O, Re1 c3 and d4. While this is not an ideal solution it results in fairly simple, straightforward play and is effective against all but maybe strong masters. On more than one occasion I’ve had the position transpose into similar to Ruy Lopez positions. Of course those Ruy Lopez-type positions are different from the real thing but the similarities are enough to act as a guide against all but masters.
Here's an example:
Feb 20, 2009
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#9
Theoritically speaking not necessarily the best but certainly looking good for anyone lower than Master level. I might try it myself!
OG
OpeningGambit wrote:
I played it for a little while, but I didn't get on with it. Now I'm playing the Closed Sicilian (or trying to!)
Have I played you Nytik? Do I know you?
OG
Nope, never met you before in my life.
Seen you on the forums a lot, though.
Odie_Spud,
That was really helpful. Thank you so much. Seeing the game play out was really helpful.
You say you rarely open with e4, what do you usually open with?
stwils
Feb 20, 2009
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#12
Nytik wrote:
OpeningGambit wrote:
I played it for a little while, but I didn't get on with it. Now I'm playing the Closed Sicilian (or trying to!)
Have I played you Nytik? Do I know you?
OG
Nope, never met you before in my life.
Seen you on the forums a lot, though.
I vaguely recognised your screen name. So you worked out from that that you think that I would like the Smith-Morra?
OG
Odie_Spud wrote:
I rarely play 1.e4 but when faced with the Sicilian always play 3.Bb5, trade the B (if forced) then play O-O, Re1 c3 and d4. While this is not an ideal solution it results in fairly simple, straightforward play and is effective against all but maybe strong masters.
If Bb5 is played after d6 or Nc6 it is effective against super-GMs, it's called Moscow or Rossolimo variation. There are different plans for White and the play is more positional than in regular Sicilian.
You could always learn some openings/defences that are playable for the most part regardless of your opponant's move, like the King's Indian attack or the Modern Defence.
stwils, learn an anti-sicilian. however, you can't know what to do against every opening but don't try the same plan with different openings - it could have disastrous consequences.
play the board and see how you go :)
Feb 20, 2009
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#16
Play the smith morra - it forces the opening back to you, just learn the variations of this line, and you don't have to learn all the other sicilians. 80% of the time when I play it they accept.
I looked in Games Explorer on this site for anti sicilian and smith morra. Nothing came up. Where can I find out about these two defensive openings against the sicilian?
stwils
stwils wrote:
Odie_Spud,
That was really helpful. Thank you so much. Seeing the game play out was really helpful.
You say you rarely open with e4, what do you usually open with?
stwils
I usually play the Torre Attack. I like it because it’s pretty solid against all possible Black setups. Sometimes results in positional play and if Black gets careless he can be the victim of a very strong attack.
That’s not to say it doesn’t require some study because White’s strategy is different depending on what setup Black uses. For example if Black chooses a K-Indian setup: 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4. Nbd2 It’s enough for me to know that White should play Nbd2, c3, develop the B at e2, overprotect the e-Pawn, play Nc4 and Bf1, then start pushing the Q-side P’s.
Whereas if Black plays it like a QG: 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bg5 Be7 4. Nbd2 d5 then White would typically develop Ne5, Qf3, O-O then centralize the R’s. The basic attacking pattern for White is moves like Qh3, Re3, Qh4 and Rh3. If at some point Black captures …cxd4 White should recapture with exd4.
I have a similar outline for each possible Black setup that I use a guide. These are of course very general guides but I’ve been playing this opening for years so am pretty familiar with the basic patterns and the associated strategy. I don’t worry about trying to memorize a lot of "book" lines because I find the general outlines and pattern recognition is enough to get me through most games. I don’t play Super GM’s or even IM’s and only an occasional master so don’t need to get too wrapped up in opening specifics. If I lose to a strong player it won’t be because of the opening anyway; it’ll be because they are better players to begin with!
The S-M isn't bad, but I always decline it because most opponent's are less well booked in the declined variations of any gambit...at least in my experience. I think that's because many lower rated players most always make the assumption their opponent will fall in with their plans. Masters on the other hand tend to falsify their hypothesis. That is they look for ways their intended move can be refuted.
Odie_Spud,
I looked up the Torre Attack. It looks quite powerful, but right now I only play e4. I'm not sure I am ready to learn the d4.
I've always wanted to play the d4, but I am not well equipped in chess right now to do so.
Maybe some time we can play an online game together (unrated please as I am now rated at 996 - I wouldn't be much of a challenge for you...) so I could learn a bit about opening with d4 and about the Torre Attack.
stwils
Last week I asked if I were ready to learn the Sicilian. After reading the responses, I decided I am not yet ready.
But what do I do if I start a game, my heart set on playing the Ruy, and play e4, only to have my friend suddenly play c5??? He wants to play the Sicilian and I don't know how.
Do I plow on the best I can with a bit of the Ruy, or do I just ad lib from there trying to do the best I can to get my pieces out, control the center, castle, and give up any thoughts of the Ruy?
And how can I respond best to the Sicilian if I don't know anything about it? It looks like instead of always calling the Sicilian the Sicilian Defence, there ought to be something called Defending AGAINST the Sicilian Defence. As white, I don't want to start out right off playing defence...but it looks like that may be the case if I am not familiar with what my friend has opened with.
Everytime I think chess is not so hard, then I find out how little I know and it seems harder than ever.
stwils