Pawn Structures in the Rossolimo

Hey everyone, I think my question would probably be best answered by an advanced Rossolimo player, or someone who is at least familiar with it. Basically, I'm curious how you choose a pawn structure to go with in the Rossolimo depending on how your opponent plays. There's a lot of theory which I've been attempting to keep in my head for a while now, however it's most often the case that opponents of mine won't play directly into lines I've studied, and sometimes this means I'm out of theory before I've even chosen a pawn structure. There are several different structures/plans that work better or worse depending on the position—d3, c3 and then d4, d4 immediately, etc. So when an opponent doesn't play directly into your prep, are there any factors that typically help you determine your setup, such as if they do or don't fianchetto, or how developed they are, or anything else? This question could be applied to the Moscow/Canal Attack as well.

Thanks!

One general tip for positions where their c pawns are doubled, if you're not sure what to do with your center pawns, then if they move their d pawn two squares forward you only move yours one. If they move their d pawn one forward, the you move two. So basically do the opposite.

The basic idea is when they play d5 you don't want to trade off one of their doubled pawns. When they play d6 it will take them an extra move to play d5, so center expansion (c3 d4) is more attractive.

Having said that, it's a pretty broad opening. There are a lot of positions so it's hard to answer your question.

Thanks, appreciate it!

in the rossolimo i take the knight in case of e6 or g6 to clarify the structure as early as possible. in the case of e6 i never really have to decide about the central configuration. if black takes with the b pawn i can play against the doubled pawns like in the nimzo, if he takes with the d pawn maybe i can go for d4, but i can also just go for a4 nc4 ideas or bh6 if bg7. in the case of g6, c3 and d4 make sense in some lines, but also just directly trying bh6.

in the moscow with bd7, i remember having read somewhere that against e6 you want to go for the c4 plan, as if you go for c3 d4, black can try ..cxd4, cxd4 d5  at some point and after e5 getting a french advance which is supposed to be okay, and going for a direct d4 instead just makes it a normal open sicilian where you just traded minor pieces which is again supposed to favor black.

on the other hand against bg7 the c3 d4 plan makes sense as you threaten e5 in many cases and sometimes black is forced to play e5 himself blocking his own bishop, while in the c4 lines he is kind of okay.

with nd7 you can go directly for d4 and take with the queen even, as now there's no nc6, but c3 d4 is also fine, and likely going to transpose into some kind of ruy lopez down the line. if you already have the ruy in your repertoire, as i assume you do, then this is far more consistent than the d4 qxd4 line.

Thanks a bunch. In the Bd7 Moscow with e6 that you mentioned, do you know if c4 is designed to suppress the possibility of them playing d5? It seems as if you wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the d5 square as white like in many maroczy bind positions if black has committed to e6.

in part it is, but really it boils down to which holds the most promise of a fight. d4 is an inferior open sicilian, and c3 d4 is either an inferior iqp or an inferior advance french for white

the positions after e6 and presumably be7 are more akin to hedgehog structures, which without the light squared bishops could also be argued to favor black but i believe less so than the other two.

then again you could still go for either d4 or c3 d4, as they are more or less  equal and if you like the positions you may win more than you lose.

Got it now, thank you