I was having this problem, where I would always lose against the Sicilian. A suggestion was to play the Alapin, but what do you do after 1. e4 c5 2. a3? Also, what the heck is the Alapin?
I was having this problem, where I would always lose against the Sicilian. A suggestion was to play the Alapin, but what do you do after 1. e4 c5 2. a3? Also, what the heck is the Alapin?
I was having this problem, where I would always lose against the Sicilian. A suggestion was to play the Alapin, but what do you do after 1. e4 c5 2. a3? Also, what the heck is the Alapin?
As mentioned Alapin's variation starts from 1.e4 c5 2.c3. Of course the intention is to play a pawn supported d4 given half a chance. The problem is however you really get that half a chance as black will play 1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 or 2...Nf6. Both then can be quite complex to muddle your way through
As for the 1.e4 c5 2.a3 which I believe is now called the St. Petersburg attack is all about directing Blacks c5 pawn away from the centre of the board with more play and or compensation then just playing 2.b4 directly. There are a couple of books on it so there is a bit much theory involved to give a simple explanation on how 2.a3 works.
either 5.nf3 or 6 bc4 are improvements for white
The book A Simple Chess Opening Repertoire For White by Sam Collins is 160 pages and 52 of those pages cover the c3 Sicilian (Alapin). The book also provides a repertoire against 1...e5, Caro-Kann, French, Pirc/Modern, Scandinavian, Alekhine.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FPOZ0UA/
... "Starting Out: the c3 Sicilian," by John Emms ...
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627022143/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen116.pdf
I was having this problem, where I would always lose against the Sicilian. A suggestion was to play the Alapin, but what do you do after 1. e4 c5 2. a3? Also, what the heck is the Alapin?