Why Na3 so high? Also, aren’t g3 and d3 basically synonymous?
I ranked white's every legal move after 1. e4 c5. (sicilian)
I agree on most ranks in your list but why is na3 ranked fourth?
At first glance it seems the knight is badly positioned, is there any idea in that variation i am not aware of?
Why did i rank Na3 so high?
At first glance, na3 looks like a strange move, one day i found it playing on the opening explorer. However, i saw that in 328 games according to the lichess masters database, it actually scores better for white than for black. Looking for some variations and engine lines, i found the kronberger sicilian has some interesting ideas.
Main move against the kronberger sicilian is 2. nc6.
In the nd4 variations:
This can lead to sharp lines. but what about other responses by black?
Let's check the line of nc6 followed by g6
what about nc6 followed by nf6?
nc6 followed by e6
Nc6 followed by Qc7
Those are the nc6 lines. some of them lead to sharp games. black isn't forced to play nc6, so i'm going to post other comments about other variations, not every single line but i'll give a general idea on what white has to do against them
I also ran stockfish 15 for some minutes and this is the top engine line for both players in the kronberger:
Wow. I would have never thought a move like 2. na3 would have that amount of theory. The system against d6 sounds interesting to me
Also, aren’t g3 and d3 basically synonymous?
About the g3 and d3 question, both have similar ideas but the reason i ranked d3 higher than g3 is because the d5 break is more annoying in g3 than in d3
In d3 it is easier to deal with the d5 break
So, i decided to make my ranking on white's every legal move after 1. e4 c5. White has 30 legals move in this position. Those are ranked from worst to best IMO (feel free to post your own rankings too).
30. Ba6 (unnamed)
29. Ke2 (King's david variation)
28. Qg4 (Amazon attack)
27. g4 (grob variation)
26. Bb5 (unnamed)
25. Qh5 (unnamed)
24. Nh3 (brick variation)
23. h4 (myers attack, with h4)
22. e5 (unnamed)
21. f3 (unnamed)
20. Qf3 (unnamed)
19. Qe2 (unnamed)
18. Bc4 (Bowdler attack)
17. Bd3 (unnamed)
16. a4 (myers attack, with a4)
15. Be2 (unnamed)
14. h3 (unnamed)
13. b4 (wing gambit)
12. f4 (mcdonnell attack)
11. c4 (staunton-cochrane variation)
10. a3 (mengarini variation)
9. g3 (lasker-dunne attack)
8. b3 (snyder variation)
7. d4 (smith morra-morphy-andreaschek gambit)
6. d3 (unnamed)
5. c3 (alapin variation)
4. Na3 (kronberger variation)
3. Ne2 (keres variation)
2. Nc3 (closed sicilian)
1. Nf3 (Open)
I was originally going to put an explanation on each one but the post would be too long. If you want to know why i ranked a variation on a specific place comment on this post.
Ima gonna post my own ranking too.
30. Ba6: No need to explain this
29. Ke2: Ah yes, the all time-played king's david opening
28. Qg4: Amazon attack is weak. Ebay attack is better
27. g4: The delayed grob!!
26. Nh3: why would anyone play this? maybe there is another variation i am not aware of like in the kronberger? Dunno
25. Qh5: Wayward queen attack version of the sicilian. i think it's countered by 2. nf6
24. H4: some kind of try on starting an early kingside attack? Probably not worth it
23. f3: Why would anyone play this too?
22. bb5: Pointless move for me. it's not like there's a knight on c6 like in the rossolimo
21. e5: At least this move prevents nf6.
20. Qe2: Not good i think. bishop is blocked
19. Bc4: the bishop can be blocked with a6 and e6
18. Qf3: At least this doesn't block the bishop.
17. bd3: This blocks the d-pawn but at least the bishop is not a target like in the bowdler i suppose.
16. Be2: The bishop is passive in there.
15. A4: Some kind of queenside attack maybe? At least doesn't weaken the kingside
14. h3: Reversed english?
13. b4: Wing gambit has some tricks but i find it not very threatening
12. c4: white tries to establish more control on d5, but surrenders control on d4.
11. f4: The macdonalds attack If black doesn't know the tal gambit then it's ok, but if black knows the tal gambit get prepared for a big attack.
10. g3: Probably not bad but yeah, i saw because of your last post how annoying 2.d5 is.
9. d3: I guess white tries to fianchetto the bishop on g2 in this variation right? It's ok in my opinion.
8. a3: I find a3 more threatening than the immediate b4. Only problem is if black plays 2.g6
7. b3: i personally like the snyder variation.
6. Na3: You definitely changed my opinion on the kronberger sicilian, but i did not rank it as high as you because there are indeed a lot of options black can play and some of them are very sharp, like that piece sacrifice in one of the nc6 lines
5. d4: Gives white a lot of attacking options specially if black hasn't studied it.
4. c3: Probably the best non-knight move against 1. e4 c5
3. Ne2: Keres sicilian, can transpose to an open sicilian.
2. Nc3, the closed sicilian, i like the nc3 nc6 bb5 line.
1. Nf3: Open sicilian, i think it is safe to say it's the best response
this ones harder than the normal ranking (someone should also do e4 e5 and similar analogs with d4 d5 and d4 Nf6)
30 Ba6- come on
29 Ke2- king safety reduced, but lowkey better than normal bongcloud
28 Qg4- tempo loss after d6
27 g4- aagh the weaknesses
26 Qh5- black can play e6, but atleast it attacks a pawn ig
25 Bb5- tempo loss after a6
24 Nh3- Nf4? this knight just does nothing
23 f3- MAYBE you can come up with some weird transposition, but i dont buy much of it
22 c4- weaknesses 2.0 but prevents b5
21 a4- prevents b5!?
20 h4- redeeming factor- prevents dragons?
19 e5- whats the point?
18 Qe2- someone has a pet setup with this but its just a bit ugly
17 Bd3- bit slow, but playable ig
16 f4- black plays d5 and wth are you even doing
15 Qf3- nothing wrong, but just blocks stuff
14 h3- bit useless this early
13 b4- trash, but kinda tricky so gets a pass this high
12 Bc4- playable, but why? that bishop is just ugly there
11 a3- tries to make the most of the previous two
10 Na3- it has some lines ig but cant be any higher
9 b3- doesnt do much, but its fine ig
8 g3- d5 lines look kinda uncomfortable
7 d3- d5 lines better than the previous one
6 Nc3- get crushed on the queenside you weak system player
5 Be2- it can transpose to a decent open
4 Ne2- just doesnt get to the mark of the others, black has e5 and Nf6
3 c3- black can play for a draw, OR for a win!
2 d4- the opening talk people convinced me this has some nice lines
1 Nf3- do i have to explain
Here’s my top 10
10- f4: I mean it’s alright like 🫤
9- a3: another Gotham recommendation 🤔
8- d3: Kings Indian attack- ishhhh 👏
7- b3: Gotham recommendation, not bad 🙌
6- Be2: Actually quite a nice move 👍
5- Ne2: Can transpose into an open ✅
4- d4: Very agressive, extremely spicy 🌶
3- Nc3: Very nice, many ways to play too 👌
2- c3: Alapin is awesome, fights for d4 😎
1- Nf3: Needs no explanation, best move 🔥
So, i decided to make my ranking on white's every legal move after 1. e4 c5. White has 30 legals move in this position. Those are ranked from worst to best IMO (feel free to post your own rankings too).
30. Ba6 (unnamed)
29. Ke2 (King's david variation)
28. Qg4 (Amazon attack)
27. g4 (grob variation)
26. Bb5 (unnamed)
25. Qh5 (unnamed)
24. Nh3 (brick variation)
23. h4 (myers attack, with h4)
22. e5 (unnamed)
21. f3 (unnamed)
20. Qf3 (unnamed)
19. Qe2 (unnamed)
18. Bc4 (Bowdler attack)
17. Bd3 (unnamed)
16. a4 (myers attack, with a4)
15. Be2 (unnamed)
14. h3 (unnamed)
13. b4 (wing gambit)
12. f4 (mcdonnell attack)
11. c4 (staunton-cochrane variation)
10. a3 (mengarini variation)
9. b3 (snyder variation)
8. d4 (smith morra-morphy-andreaschek gambit)
7. g3 (lasker-dunne attack)
6. d3 (unnamed)
5. c3 (alapin variation)
4. Na3 (kronberger variation)
3. Ne2 (keres variation)
2. Nc3 (closed sicilian)
1. Nf3 (Open)
I was originally going to put an explanation on each one but the post would be too long. If you want to know why i ranked a variation on a specific place comment on this post.