Your talking about 2 things here but they are one. Kind hard to put it in words.
Ok your talking about the control of the center in the 2nd. The first is a mobile center meaning it changes plus the development of the Bishops as one is going to be cramped and may play a defensive role.
So it really is a matter of which strategy you prefer as your playing and have to be comfortable with it. Either can be argued as better till the end of time.
Here I think it's unsound. Black is weakening d5 in a position in which White already has pressure there with the bishop on g5. White will follow up with Bc4 and have d5 free of charge. 7.Nb3 Be6 is forced because 7...b5 8.a4 is no good. Moves like Bg5 and Bc4 are never met with e5 because of this.
This leads to the other issue that when Black plays ...Be6 too early White should always get an advantage with some kind of f4 attack. Black usually doesn't play ...Be6 so early to avoid that. So either way White will have a better game than usual.
...e5 is very questionable in that position because White's B is already on g5! White can direct his play around the weak d5 square and he is very fast.
That's one of the things that gives the Najdorf (5...a6) its value - Black need not commit to a formation until White's shown his hand. Of course if you don't know what formations are appropriate against which White 6th moves, it doesn't do you much good...
Thanks for your reply, royal - I think I have a better understanding of the changeability of the two different centers now. I understand that their are two different playing styles present here, passive and aggressive respectively. What puzzles me is that comparing these positions to Game Explorer, most top players would opt for passive position. Is this because top players are more careful therefore more passive with their pieces? Thanks again :)
"Here I think it's unsound. Black is weakening d5 in a position in which White already has pressure there with the bishop on g5. White will follow up with Bc4 and have d5 free of charge. 7.Nb3 Be6 is forced because 7...b5 8.a4 is no good. Moves like Bg5 and Bc4 are never met with e5 because of this."
"..e5 is very questionable in that position because White's B is already on g5! White can direct his play around the weak d5 square and he is very fast."
Thanks a whole bunch guys. That really clears that up for me. I appreciate you all taking the time to help! :)
Playing e5 means there is a 'hole' on d5 for a white piece. A piece on d5 is protected by a white pawn and cannot be attacked by a black pawn. Chess.com recently had two articles on this.
http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-sicilian-hole
http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-sicilian-hole-part-two
After 6.Bg5 e5, the white player can immediately try to take advantage of this weakness with (for example) 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.Nd5 Qd8 9.Nf5. Also, white can eventually attack the pawn on d6 by lining up heavy pieces (the rooks and queen) on the d file.
White looks good to me in all of the above lines, often having better development.
The fact that white can play 7.Bxf6 after 6.Bg5, eliminating a defender of the d5 square, is why 6...e5 is particularly uncommon after 6.Bg5 even though it is a popular choice against other sixth moves.
Having said this, in practice I haven't been able to really take advantage of this inaccuracy. In one game I had to retreat to my knight due to a tactic, my opponent advanced his d pawn, and I had to do something else to regain the advantage. In another game, my knight on d5 jumped to fork my opponent's rook and king, and my opponent responded with a rook sac and crushed me.
Can't thank you enough, Eric. Thanks for the articles, but your analysis was very astute. Much thanks!
If i rember right the shesnikov e5 is done on move 4, only played it once, cant remember for sure.
Estragon, like the others, thank you very much.
I started thinking that a better position might be reached for Black after 9...Bxf5, but soon saw how bleak the position really was for Black. Can't castle; can't really knock off the Knight on d5, and facing a pawn storm Kingside, while White castles Queenside happily. (Please correct me if I'm wrong in those assuptions.)
It was great to get your thoughts on this. Thanks again! :)
Guys, I have another one for you, if you don't mind the trouble.
Another common position in the Najdorf, 7...Be7 main-line.
Firstly, sorry about all the arrows and things - I hope I can make my question clearer by using them.
13. f5 (red arrow) leaves 13...Bxg5+ exposed (as indicated by the blue lines), and Black wins a free pawn. My question is why? Does allowing Black this temporary victory, secure the weakness on e6 (yellow circle), allowing the c-knight to jump in? (yellowish arrow). Would somehow moving the king to relative safety on b1 earlier lose an important tempo for White?
Thanks again for any help offered to a fellow Chess enthusiast :)
After you take the pawn looks like you better move knight to e5 attacking his queen, that way e5 pawn is doubly.
protected from attack,bishop then retreats to f6 if it is attacked.Then if f row pawn takes e row pawn you can retake with you f row pawn which is protected by bishop on c8. now you can stillcastle because bishop protects f6 square from qween ,looks good to me
Not so sure about my plan,because white bishop can go to g3 and then hes gonna have a kbight or bishop in there.
Think you have to take frow pawn,then move queen to d8 ifhe attacks with knight,or maybe take pawn with bishop 1st and then capture frow pawn,that looks better
13...Bxg5+ is now labelled as extremely risky- white gets a tremendous initiative in return. Factly, this is hardly the Najdorf mainline currently. I am playing the Najdorf as Black in correspondence chess, and I can assure you that I NEVER opted for this position, as Black.
Are you a poisoned pawn addict, IM pfren?
IM pfren, Thank you for your reply. It's good to know that it a risky move for Black. However, I am seeing this position quite often. Would you be able to explain about the initiative white gets after moving his king out of check - (wouldn't he be losing the initiative?) Excuse the gap of knowledge between us also. Einstein99 thank you for replying, although I'm not quite certain what you mean, I appreciate the effort.
I prefer the modern treatment of the Najdorf against 6.Bg5, namely 6...Nbd7 with something like a direct ...e5 in mind, or alternatively a delayed ...Qb6.
I just added these thought to my repertoire - thank you, it's very interesting.
Hey guys, I'd really like to know why better players choose to play e6 in this well-known opening. Does it guard against something I'm not seeing?
I've been previously playing e5 to gain center control, drive the White Knight back to b3 and free my c-bishop, which I wouldn't be able to with the passive e6.
-- Appreciate all and any information on this puzzling subject. Thank you :) --