Solution to Avoid Lots of Sicilian Theory

Hehe

That's what I've been hearing by Sicilian players -- they fear it. however, earlier in this thread I believe that ThrillerFan (highly experienced) advised against it if I believe. I think he gave some detailed reasoning as well. Check it out and let us know that you think.

Yeah but he advocated 2.a3 and 3.b4. Not any better than the very reliable and solid Alapin.

ThrillerFan did give specific reasoning as to why he believed the Alapin is unsound. Can you or anyone reading this find fault with his specific reasoning (earlier in this thread)? Prove him wrong. I'm not trying to sound antagonistic or anything. I seriously want to know.

Can you find or anyone specific fault with the deferred wing gambit 2.a3 3.b4 that he gave examples of earlier in this thread.

Same questions for 2.b3, discussed earlier in this thread and played at very high (Spassky et al.) levels.

The alapin is of course not bad if you are happy with an equal position...
Every good sicilian player is happy seeing these kind of anti-sicilians, it means that he can easily equalize.  

The Alapin is not unsound at all. TF says things like it's a joke, it's no problem for black, and bad for white, but I have to assume he's referring to the fact it gives up fairly easy equality. Sure. But it's not at all unsound. Much more playable than the wing gambit which he seems to advocate more strongly... oddly enough.

No, he only ever said it was easy equality and he was happy to see it as black.

He stated that Black has a number of ways to equalize fairly easily, but there is no way that the Alapin is unsound, nor did he ever suggest that was the case.  Black indeed has several ways of getting an equal position easily, but White's game is still very much playable, even if it gives Black equality.  Additionally, it's very well studied, so if you're looking for a good surprise weapon, the Alapin isn't it.  On the other hand, if you're looking for a stable option against the Sicilian but don't want to study the Open Sicilian, the Alapin can work if you're fine with equal games.

Besides, even if there's disagreement between stuff like the deferred Wing Gambit and the Alapin, there are much worse second-move responses against the Sicilian, like Qh5 or a4.

OK. Thanks for clearing that up. I'll go back and reread what he actually wrote. I inferred he meant the Alapin was "unsound" when maybe he just seemed to cast the Alapin in a negative light (which is subjective).

Interesting how super-GMs sometimes play 2.b3 as an anti-Sicilian. Plenty of games on chessgames.com. Obviously another option as pointed out earlier in the thread -- the question I have is how it compares to the Alapin etc.

Idk if it's just me, but with black I seem to play quite a few "not correct" openings to try and play for initiative because I don't want to just play to "equalize" especially against stronger players, but as white I play much sounder openings because I don't want to be fighting for equality as white either and I already have the initiative since I'm white, so no reason to play strange and risky things as white IMO, although ik everyone disagrees since there's hardly any gambits for black, and white has all the famous ones. Just don't really understand the point of giving up your white advantage instead of just pressing. Although as black i'll play stuff like the Czech Benoni and Albin Countergambit to try and get initiative

My guess is that 2.c3 or 2.Nf3 followed by c3 is very fine overall.

thrillerfan says it's unsound, so it got to be a very good choice. 

Just pick something and enjoy it. Most people do not stick to a variation for more than 6 months, because they believe their results depend on the first 5 moves. But they do not..

jus play the kopec systeem. for white is means that you play e4 nf3 bd3 c3 bd2

it goes something like this

It doesn't really matter which system you choose. You'll have to learn the pros and cons and how to deal with them no matter which lines you decide on. If you really aren't trying to master the game, just choose one and be done with it.

If your aim is higher, then ignore this thread entirely and start studying!

Isn't the kopec just an inferior Alapin?

The "Kopec" with Bd3 is not bad. I encounted it recently for the first time with Black against a 2200 ELO player, and i lost, mainly due to a positional mistake i made on move 16.

I don't play it myself when i`m on the white side of a Sicilian. It is not my style of play. But the move itself is not bad. I don't think it is an "inferior" Alapin (why should it be?).

The Ruy Lopez is a different matter. The Bc2 is an important piece which helps controlling the centre. I recently won a nice game with a mainline Saizew variation, including the Bc2 move. Black later exchanged this bishop vs. a knight, however i got a nice position with a Nf5 knight, winning with 2 N sacrifices).

The only "Kopec" flavour that is interesting is that one:

4.Be2 has been tried as well, the big idea being sacrificing a few pawns for a big developmental advantage after 4...Nc6 5.d4. However, this has been analysed thoroughly and Black stands well.

4.h3 (followed by Bd3-c2 etc) has been scrutinized a few years ago (some fifty bulky pages) at the Experts on the Anti-Sicilian book. Allowing Black the luxury of ...Bg4 means easy equality.

You can still try 2...e6 3.c3 d5 (3...Nf6 4.e5 is also a fairly standard Alapin) 4.e5, when Black will either allow an Advance French after d2-d4, or play 4...d4 himself, where 5.Bd3!? is quite interesting, and complex, strategically.

That's not the Kopec, the bishop isn't on d3.