Sicilian Najdorf - why do I keep getting destroyed in the first 20 moves?

Last note of advice from me is just learn from your own mistakes . Seek help when undoubtedly you have hit a wall. Not like this, where you obviously have not learned basic positional themes, tactical nuances or the fundamental principles of the Sicilian opening (namely 2. ... d6 systems). Best wishes my friend.😉

You're welcome! I should probably have made it clearer that everything I've said there only applies to the English Attack line where white plays 6.Be3. In particular, 6...e5 is the usual Najdorf plan, that's not actually true after 6.Bc4 or 6.Bg5, where Black usually plays 6...e6. I believe that the logic is that either one of those moves put more pressure on d5, either directly or by threatening to eliminate the f6 knight, so covering it with the pawn is considered better. (If I've misunderstood or the theory has changed recently it would be great if someone would contradict me on that.) Against everything else, 6...e5 and 7...Be6 is OK. 6...e6 is also usually playable, and you might want to play it safe and just use that every time, but personally I always found 6...e5 more fun as black in the positions where it's playable, especially after 6.Be3.

Interesting to hear your thoughts on the dragondorf. It's not a line I know terribly well and I'm sure someone who did could easily wipe me off the board with it, but there does seem to be a feeling out there that it's not terribly good, even if I wouldn't be able to demonstrate the problems with it myself. Whether any of that's relevant at our level is another matter. I agree that if you're going to play it then e5 doesn't seem to make much sense.

I am by no means an expert. I just realized that there are people who play it against me and get decent positions. So I assume that there is nothing wrong with playing it, at least at club level. But I agree that it probably isn't as sound as the Najdorf. Otherwise more GM's would play it.

11...e5 Since I'm being pawn stormed, I knew that each tempo was critical here. I needed to finish my development, but I also needed to do it whilst keeping the initiative. Every move counts.

You're absolutely right here. The problem is the move you play does none of those things: it blocks in your bishop. It doesn't develop a piece. It creates a weakness on d6. Most of your problems in this game stem straight from this move. As others have said, you are playing a hybrid Dragon/Najdorf, and your opponent is treating it like a Dragon. As a result, you have (in theory) wasted three full moves with a6/b5/Bb7 compared to a normal dragon, and are going to be under some pressure. However, if you can survive the initial onslaught, those "wasted" moves will turn out to be very useful in building your own attack.

In the position after 11.g4, you have to make a choice.

Plan 1: You can try to consolidate your position on the kingside - a move like 11...h5 is not out of the question here. If he pushes, he is sytmied in his pawn storm as f4 will create a weakness on e4 for your bishop on b7 to exploit. If he takes on h5, you simply play Nxh5 and his pawn storm is pretty much over again, while your g7 bishop increases substantially in scope. This forces you to delay your attack and accept some cramping in your position but does reduce the risk you're going to be mated in 25 moves.

Plan 2: Simply develop your pieces. Play Nc6, with the idea of Ne5 or Nxd4, and rerouting your other knight via Nd7-e5/c5. This play gives you active pieces and allows you to continue to explore aggressive ideas, but does face the risk that you are going to be rolled off the board. 

Plan 3: Jump right into the attack and see who gets their firstest with the mostest. Play something like Qa5 and then b4 and go after him. Will be exciting at least. A little unlikely to work given your b8 knight and a8 rook are not yet in the game.

My personal preference would be to play Nc6, and expect him to respond with h4. I would then throw in h5, hopefully leaving him tied up enough on the kingside that I have time to get in Rc8 and start my own attack. Good luck!

If you're interested in the Najdorf then I think you should go for the usual Najdorf setup by kicking the knight early with 6...e5 and follow up by developing the Bishop to e7, not g7.

You literally didn't do what u wrote at first. first u pushed e5 and weakened the d pawn . Then u blocked the development for the sake of protecting a pawn

Thanks for such a well explained post. 🙏👌