Well, of course one thing is, the White cannot force the Poisoned Pawn, it will only occur on the board if the Black wants to play it. (In which case they have probably learned the lines well.)
Poisoned pawn scarier than English attack (Sicilian)
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Ohh , ok thanks.
Nov 18, 2010
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#4
This is the position in one of my current games on Najdorf thematics where I play black. I'm not scared of it, blacks have enough resourses to preserve their material advantage (2 or 3 pawns depending whether U take the pawn on a2 or not).
Though it's far from being the only possible outcome in this variation. For instance, if white plays 9.Nb3 instead of immediate 9.Rb1 the black queen is blocked for long time.
Recently i have picked up the Sicilian Defense ( I am traditionally a Caro Kann player myself) I was wondering why more people playing white prefer the English attack rather than the Poisoned pawn variation. I know that as black i am always a lot more scared to face the poisoned pawn variation due to the final position rather than the English attack.
But now if we take a look at the poisoned pawn variation which is played less and has a lower win percentage for white:
The Poisoned pawn looks a lot more menacing for white to me in the position. Anyone have any thoughts as to why the English is more respected.