If you are facing the Sicilian Defence, what second move you would recommend?

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pfren

You did not even mention 2.Be2 which is a mighty good move.

anti-NaCl

@pfren These are the move that I found on Wikipedia, you can recommend other move if it suit you. (as long as you explain the benefits in your variation)

kindaspongey
llamonade2 wrote:
kindaspongey wrote:

"... There is no doubt in my mind that if you really want to test the Sicilian then you have to play the main lines of the Open Sicilian. The problem is that there are just so many of them ... and keeping up with developments in all of them is a substantial task. ... as you become older, with other demands on your time (family, job, etc.) then it becomes more and more difficult to keep up with everything. At this stage it may make sense to reduce your theoretical overhead by adopting one of the 'lesser' lines against the Sicilian: 2 c3, or the Closed Sicilian, or lines with Bb5. ..." - GM John Nunn in part of a 2005 book where he discussed a 1994 game in which he had played 2 c3.

Stuff like this is just so silly IMO.

Who does he think he's writing to? No one who buys his books needs to worry about how best to test the Sicilian. It makes no difference to the practical play of amateurs if you play 3.d4 and go for mainlines or not.

The book was a collection of his own games. He was explaining why he had chosen 1 e4 c5 2 c3 in one of them (while still believing that 2 Nf3 etc. was better). I imagine that he went into it as an expression of sympathy for those who might not want to go for 2 Nf3 and 3 d4. There are many who think in terms of trying to play what is best. I don't see anything silly about briefly discussing an alternative attitude.

kindaspongey
llamonade2 wrote:
dannyhume wrote:
I don’t know anything about the Sicilian or any chess opening or anything in chess of a theoretical or practical nature for that matter, but this one GM Sveshnikov says 2.Nf3 is clearly strongest, 2.f4 and 2.c3 share second and third place, and 2.Nc3 is not as strong as the other three choices.

Ok, but at worst 2.Nc3 is an equal position.

Plus it usually leads to closed maneuvering games with 32 pieces on the board.

In other words the result will have nothing to do with the opening.

I do not see any reason to believe the last ten words. Sometimes, a player has a better understanding of the positions resulting from one opening.

kindaspongey
nguyenchinghia wrote:

@pfren These are the move that I found on Wikipedia, you can recommend other move if it suit you. (as long as you explain the benefits in your variation)

I do not see anything wrong identifying a possible move without explanation.

llamonade2
kindaspongey wrote:
llamonade2 wrote:
dannyhume wrote:
I don’t know anything about the Sicilian or any chess opening or anything in chess of a theoretical or practical nature for that matter, but this one GM Sveshnikov says 2.Nf3 is clearly strongest, 2.f4 and 2.c3 share second and third place, and 2.Nc3 is not as strong as the other three choices.

Ok, but at worst 2.Nc3 is an equal position.

Plus it usually leads to closed maneuvering games with 32 pieces on the board.

In other words the result will have nothing to do with the opening.

I do not see any reason to believe the last ten words. Sometimes, a player has a better understanding of the positions resulting from one opening.

Yeah, based on understanding, not based on the theoretical value of the opening itself. You disagree and agree with me at the same time. Anyway I'm not interested in a 1000 post debate with you so I probably shouldn't reply at all.

kindaspongey
llamonade2 wrote:
kindaspongey wrote:
llamonade2 wrote:
dannyhume wrote:
I don’t know anything about the Sicilian or any chess opening or anything in chess of a theoretical or practical nature for that matter, but this one GM Sveshnikov says 2.Nf3 is clearly strongest, 2.f4 and 2.c3 share second and third place, and 2.Nc3 is not as strong as the other three choices.

Ok, but at worst 2.Nc3 is an equal position.

Plus it usually leads to closed maneuvering games with 32 pieces on the board.

In other words the result will have nothing to do with the opening.

I do not see any reason to believe the last ten words. Sometimes, a player has a better understanding of the positions resulting from one opening.

Yeah, based on understanding, not based on the theoretical value of the opening itself. You disagree and agree with me at the same time. ...

I disagree with the claim that the result of a game will have nothing to do with the opening. Perhaps, we agree that many players unnecessarily concern themselves with seeking to play the theoretically best move. Nevertheless, some players do try to do it, and it seems to me to be reasonable to discuss the pros and cons of that effort.

Chessflyfisher

I play 2 c4 turning the game into an English Opening Symmetrical --Botvinnik variation.

checkmate2480

i play closed sicilian grand prix attack

llamonade2
kindaspongey wrote:
llamonade2 wrote:
kindaspongey wrote:
llamonade2 wrote:
dannyhume wrote:
I don’t know anything about the Sicilian or any chess opening or anything in chess of a theoretical or practical nature for that matter, but this one GM Sveshnikov says 2.Nf3 is clearly strongest, 2.f4 and 2.c3 share second and third place, and 2.Nc3 is not as strong as the other three choices.

Ok, but at worst 2.Nc3 is an equal position.

Plus it usually leads to closed maneuvering games with 32 pieces on the board.

In other words the result will have nothing to do with the opening.

I do not see any reason to believe the last ten words. Sometimes, a player has a better understanding of the positions resulting from one opening.

Yeah, based on understanding, not based on the theoretical value of the opening itself. You disagree and agree with me at the same time. ...

I disagree with the claim that the result of a game will have nothing to do with the opening. Perhaps, we agree that many players unnecessarily concern themselves with seeking to play the theoretically best move. Nevertheless, some players do try to do it, and it seems to me to be reasonable to discuss the pros and cons of that effort.

Fair enough.

DrChesspain
pfren wrote:

You did not even mention 2.Be2 which is a mighty good move.

"Paging Dr. Tartakower..." 

AadarshIyengar

I like Smith mora

WilliamSchill

Playing 2. c3  really annoys Sicilian players and even though not as accurate as the open lines is good simply for that reason.

anti-NaCl

I used to always play the Sicilian but realised I didn't know much there, so I decided to prove I'm a noob by always play the Open game. However, my favorite opening is the Queen's Pawn Opening: Chigorin Variation.

Colin20G

Have you attempted to play the Smith Morra's gambit?