I need an opening suggestion.

As white what opening do you play here? Ive tried both the closed sicilian and the moscow variation.(1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6. 3. Bb5+ Bd7) and to be honest I dont really like either one of them all that much. I think the closed sicilian may be a little too strategically complex for me and in the moscow variation it seems black has a lot of tactics white needs to watch out for. Of the two I prefer the moscow variation but Im hoping there is something else out there. If I play the open sicilian here, how many different variations will I need to be familiar with?

There is a book called "Steamrolling The Sicilian", which only works against 2...d6.  You would need something else against 2...Nc6 and 2...e6 (against which I play the Rossolimo against the former and the King's Indian Attack against the latter).

Steamrolling the Sicilian is all about what is known as the Prins Variation.  That is 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 and now, INSTEAD of 5.Nc3, allowing the Najdorf (5...a6), Dragon (5...g6), Sveshnikov (5...e6), and Classical (5...Nc6), White plays 5.f3!  There is a little bit of theory, but that one book covers it all against 2...d6.

I will say that 95% of my games involving the Prins Variation wind up being Maroczy Binds.

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627101148/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen174.pdf
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/987.pdf

My First Chess Opening Repertoire for White
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9033.pdf
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/vincent-moret/
1 e4 A Comprehensive White Repertoire

https://www.chess.com/blog/logozar/1-e4-a-comprehensive-white-repertoire-blog-preview

https://www.chess.com/blog/Milliern/a-solution-to-all-of-your-1-e4-problems

A Simple Chess Opening Repertoire for White

http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/A-Simple-Chess-Opening-Repertoire-for-White-76p3916.htm

http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/A_Simple_Chess_Opening_Repertoire_for_White.pdf

A Chess Opening Repertoire for Blitz and Rapid by Evgeny and Vladimir Sveshnikov

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9020.pdf

Playing 1.e4

https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Playing1e4FrenchDefenceSicilianSidelines-excerpt.pdf

https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Playing1e4SicilianMainLines-excerpt.pdf

1.e4

https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Negi_1e4_vs_the_Sicilian_One-excerpt.pdf

https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/GrandmasterRepertoire1e4vsSicilianII-excerpt.pdf

Suggestions can be found in:

The Grand Prix Attack by Evgeny Sveshnikov (2013)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626232217/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen171.pdf
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/979.pdf

The Complete c3 Sicilian by Evgeny Sveshnikov (2010)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626234618/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen141.pdf
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/944.pdf

The King's Indian attack - Move by Move by GM Neil McDonald (2014)
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7277.pdf

Mayhem in the Morra by Marc Esserman (2012) https://web.archive.org/web/20140627043409/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen160.pdf

The Modern Anti-Sicilian: 1.e4 c5 2.a3 by Sergei Soloviov (2014)
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7393.pdf
Sabotaging the Sicilian, French and Caro-Kann Defenses with 2.b3

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/3730.pdf

If you decide to go for the open Sicilian, you could look in:

Taming the Sicilian by Nigel Davies (2002)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627033203/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen46.pdf
Slay the Sicilian by Timothy Taylor (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627043409/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen160.pdf
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7080.pdf
MODERNIZED: The Open Sicilian written by IM Zhanibek Amanov and FM Kostya Kavutskiy (2015)
http://claudiamunoz.com/index.php/en/chess-book-reviews/5430-my-book-review-modernized-the-open-sicilian
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7500.pdf
Neil McDonald's Starting Out 1.e4
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627032909/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen89.pdf
http://www.theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/opening-books-en-masse-part-3

Thank you everybody for the replies. I looked at all the links. I kind of like the idea of just playing the c3 sicilian against 1...c5. The only problem is I really love playing the rossolimo variation and if I just play the c3 sicilian I'll never get to play the rossolimo. Most of the open sicilians look like too much work to put into opening prep for a player of my level.....with the exception of the prins variation. Then there is the KIA but Im not sure that is really my style. Honestly none of the options after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 excite me very much. Maybe Ill like the marcozy bind systems more if I learn how to play them better....so I guess Ill try that again.

Hey thrillerfan....have you ever tried the moscow variation? 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6. 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. BxB+ where if the queen recaptures white usually sets up the marcozy bind. If so do you like the prins variation better? Is there any special reason you like the prins better?

Yes, early on, the White LSB is "bad", but in the long run, I find it more useful to keep the Bishops on rather than let them go, particularly to cover c4, and once a Knight goes in on d5 and Black usually trades via BxN, one of the diagonals opens up and I have an unopposed Bishop.  If I am going to trade off a bishop early, I'd rather do it for structural damage (i.e. Exchange Ruy, Winawer French, Nimzo-Indian, Stonewall Dutch [on f4 in the 7.Bf4 line], Trompowski, Rossolimo, etc).  Plus, I get a lot more wins as often Black just seems to think that they can still play it like their normal Sicilian, and that surely doesn't work.  You have to play the position at hand, not your own contrived system and think it works all the time.

Case in point:  Go to http://chessstream.com/Land-Of-The-Sky/Games.aspx and select the game Patrick McCartney - Peter John Liotino.

The opening is the Prins Sicilian, and yet, Black proceeds with 5...a6 (already a waste of time), but then, just as Black at first appears to take on one of the three normal defenses in a slightly odd move order (Hedgehog Setup), no, he proceeds to continue like this is the ...h5 line of the English Attack.  Uhm, White is not executing an English Attack, so why respond as such?  White won after a beautiful combination starting with an Exchange Sacrifice.  And even if Black plays something like 37...Qb7, it doesn't work because of 38.Ra8 where 39.Ra7 is a threat.

It's similar to one time I played 1.e4 c5 2.a3 as White, and my opponent tried to continue to play a Kan and specifically the Fish Hook trick (with ...h5 and ...Ng4) - Again, didn't work for Black at all!

Thanks for that info....I feel more excited about studying these marcozy bind set ups now. For me...feeling passionate about the positions Im playing is half the battle.

italian game 

Italian game? How do you get that after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6

What about the Alapin? e4 c5 c3

According to the book I have after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c3 isnt the alapin...it is some other opening. Ive tried to play c3 there anyway but I havent been able to get positions I liked. Of course I could play 1. e4 c5 2. c3 and everything is good but in that case I give up the opportunity to play the Rossolimo(1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5.) And well I dont want to give up that opportunity. I find black often plays 2. ..Nc6. I do play 3. c3 after 2. ..e6 and 2...g6.  After those moves there are also opportunities to transpose to other openings....which I like. Variety is the spice of life, right?

I think that Nf3 d6 c3 is called the Delayed alapin. You could play c3 only against d6 and still play the Rossolimo if they play Nc6 on move 2

Hmmmmmm.....I kind of  already started studying the marcozy bind systems but if playing Nf3 d6 c3 is possible thats something Id like to look into later on. Do you know of any good books or DVDs covering this delayed alapin?

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 c3 is discussed in Experts on the Anti-Sicilian, but I imagine that the emphasis is on ideas for Black (with perhaps some defects in that coverage).

"... fifty-two pages are devoted to the coverage of the rather innocuous 2 Nf3 d6 3 c3 Nf6 4 h3, with no specific mention of the Kopec Variation, or 4 Be2, or even GM Davies' sneaky recommendation of 4 d3 to enter the King's Indian Attack without allowing the majority of Black's most critical replies. …"

https://web.archive.org/web/20140626195254/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen147.pdf

It has been for ever since I cracked that book open, but if I recall correctly, doesn't it cover exclusively 4.h3?  Wouldn't that imply that it is for White, and covers Black's responses to that?

Again, haven't read the book in years, but was just wondering if perhaps it could be for White?

I do know for a fact that the book as a whole is not just for one side or the other.  Like the 2.c3 Nf6 stuff is covered from Black's perspective, but all of those chapters on 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bb5 is for White.

I've played the Alapin for several years and, honestly, that wasn't really a great opening. In many lines white has to make the unpleasant choice between an isolani on d4 and an endgame with minimal advantage (if there is any). It could look like this:

The delayed Alapin may have a better reputation, but that's only possible against 2... d6. In the case of 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3, both 3... d5 and 3... Nf6 will transfer to the normal Alapin.

It has been many years since I superficially browsed through the book, so I am unable to be very authoritative, but the reviewer seemed to me to talk about the book as though it were intended for Black: "... this book is a genuinely fine catalog of ideas on how to handle the various Anti-Sicilians. Some of the recommendations are solid, effective equalizers; whereas others are dynamic and challenging. … Though the material is quite demanding of prospective black players, particularly in the more provocative lines. The emphasis is on lines that challenge White to go outside his comfort zone. However, to do that requires a lot of memorization of lines by Black; whereas the amount of explanatory prose about key ideas and strategical themes is limited. The immense diversity in types of positions and style of play for Black, requires a deep level of understanding. ..."

https://web.archive.org/web/20140626195254/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen147.pdf

Here are some of the chapter titles mentioned in the review:

3…e6 versus the Grand Prix Attack, A Classical Repertoire against 2 c3, Beating 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 with 3…d6, Beating 2 Nf3 d6 3 Bb5+ with 3…Nd7!, A 10-minute repertoire against the Closed Sicilian, Beating 2 a3 with 2…g6, Beating 2 f4 with 2…d5, Beating 5 f3 with 5…e5, 2 d3 – A Black Repertoire, Beating 2 b3 with 2…g6

I wonder if you are thinking of the right book. I only see one 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 chapter and the idea seems to be to help the reader to know how to beat it.

As you can see, the reviewer seemed to feel that the book inappropriately neglected to help the reader to be able to face 4 Be2 and 4 d3.

I can 100 percent GUARANTEE you that this book is NOT a Black Repertoire book.  They are individual articles, some for White, some for Black.  They are not a single, cohesive repertoire.  Half of the chapters are actually for WHITE!