Optimissed wrote:
Ethan_Brollier wrote:
Optimissed wrote:
This is the line that has killed the SMG at a high level.
Oh, I thought it was the Paulsen Formation that refuted it.
It is a Paulsen. Black will play a6. The immediate e6, a6, Qc7 thing is rather passive and it's difficult to force a win with.
I might be misunderstanding, or we might be talking about different lines, but at what point did Qc7 get played? I was under the assumption the line went 4… e6 5… Nc6 6… a6 7… b5 8… Bb7 9… Nge7 and the queen actually stayed on d8 for the time being.
The Sicilian is probably the hardest opening in e4 to make a repertoire against, assuming you play 2. Nf3 you have to know what to do against six solid variations
But given the amount of variations white can throw into the mix, black also needs to be booked up.
I suppose, but Black doesn’t have to know nearly as much as White. Black has to know their line against the Open, Closed, Alapin, and like 2 or 3 sidelines. Black could even play 2… Nc6 and accept the Rossolimo in exchange for not needing to know any other real sidelines.