Switching to Sicilian, but which Sicilian?

I have played the French Defense for a long time.

I'd like something more aggressive and dynamic, so would like to learn either the Najdorf or the Dragon.

Lots of people have opinions I'm sure, would love to hear them.

You must mean over the board as you don't appear to have a single game on here.

The French is aggressive and dynamic. Just look at the Poisoned Pawn with 12...d4. Winds up complete chaos. It is a theoretical draw after 24...a5, but at your level, it won't get that far. White will deviate with some inferior move.

Najdorf is the best.

Dragon and Najdorf are both very aggressive. The Dragon is perhaps more aggressive but a bit unstable at higher levels.

The Najdorf is incredibly flexible and diverse so it can be adapted to counter each variation. Not only can it be adapted to each variation but it can be adapted based on your style and preference. That is, the way you play the Najdorf may be very different from the way someone else plays the Najdorf.

For example, you can play it in traditional Najdorf fashion with e5, Scheveningen fashion with e6, or you can transpose into a Dragondorf structure with g6 when it might be considered more favourable.

This is the strength and beauty of the opening.

Why are you basing it on what White does? White can always force a positional or tactical game if he wishes to. You cannot stop him. It's just that some of the lines to do either one of them can often be innocuous.

Even if you are a Najdorf player, what stops White from playing the Alapin or Closed Sicilian?

It's just like in the Petroff, what stops White from playing the Cochrane Gambit?

So to bank on thinking aggression is always appropriate, ESPECIALLY for Black, is outright ridiculous! Even if you are a Najdorf player. 6.Be2 against the Najdorf also leads to a fairly tame game.

dragon sicilian = you must know a lot of theory to even have a chance as black

nadjorf sicilian = you still should know theory, but even if you dont know much you can still survive

french sicilian (taimanov) = its solid and a bit flexable but Nxc6 is quite annoying

french sicilian (kan) = very flexable but you should know sicilian structures before playing this and how to play agianst the maróczy

accelerated dragon = much easier to play and more basic, just learn how to play the maróczy

hyperaccelerated dragon = trash due to Qxd4 lines being a pain for black

classical sicilian = bg5 is your only real issue and anything else they play you end up fine, you just need to know alot for this and how to punish bad play by white to win.

Kupreichik sicilian = legend status and is just a waiting move by black, agian Bg5 is your only issue

scheveningen siclian = 5.e6 is utter trash because of 5.g4!! and black has a hard game ahead, but if you want to play this play 5.a6 then 6.e6 to avoid g4

pin variation = if white knows what hes doing he can get a easily winning position/ high advantage right out of the opening

2 knights tiamanov = boring and trash, dont recommend it

Lasker-Pelikan sicilian = classical and good for both sides, but you give up the d5 square and white typically takes advantage of that, you wont ever get d5 in and white can get good attacking chances and your only counterplay is f5 and your bishop pair (VERY COMPLICATED)

i probally missed a couple tell me if i did

the Löwenthal sicilian is boring and drawish dont recommend

ill mention closed/anti sicilians now:

Rossolimo attack = white has alot of options of how he sets up but black does well with the fianchetto setup and gets the bishop pair, all you need to do is learn a line or 2 to be fine

Canal/Moscow variation = be7 does well for black and i recommend recapturing with the queen so after exd4 white can respond with Qxd4 and have a big center

Closed siclian (double fianchetto setup) i recommend aiming for a6-b5 and getting d5 in to open the position, try not to close the position for white can easily get an attack going if so

Grand prix = e6-d5-a6-b5 and the fianchetto setup works well agianst this also, white has dark squared weaknesses and his kings a bit exposed so try to open the position even getting a knight on d4 can be a hassle for white

btw in the closed sicilians put your kings knight on e7

italian/2 knights setup = nothing specific your goal remians the same in most closed siclians.

a6-b5,e6-d5 and an optional fianchetto setup on g7 and you also try to open the position

alapin = this equalizes for black after this

i probally missed a couple here aswell

also in the lowerenthawl sicilian if black goes d6 it transposes

to the sveshnikov

The Kalashnikov (Lowenthal) is more flexible than the Sveshnikov (Lasker-Pelikan) but in this case it isn't a good thing as it allows white other more challenging moves such as c4 and Bc4.

The Sveshnikov is forcing Nc3 before e5 which basically prevents these other moves.

The Sveshnikov is a good variation. Make no mistake, it is structurally weak. However, it makes these positional concessions in exchange for initiative. It is in fact a very aggressive line.

I wouldn't say Kupreichik has legend status. It's more of a sideline. The point of the move is of course to prepare e5, like the Najdorf, without committing the a pawn, but there's just no point in this. The bishop is very misplaced on d7. It doesn't fulfill an active role and it blocks the knight from d7 where it normally belongs. Better is e5-Be6 or b5-Bb7, after a6.

The Scheveningen isn't utter trash but you really need to play very precisely against the Keres Attack or get killed so it's not worth it.

These days, this move order is obsolete, but the Scheveningen isn't totally obsolete. It's just been absorbed into the Najdorf. Basically any move that white plays after a6 makes g4 less dangerous, so then the Scheveningen is often played.

The Najdorf and Scheveningen have this type of relationship like the King's Indian and Benoni.

Scheveningen is not often played because of the Keres Attack, but can be reached via the Najdorf to avoid this.

Benoni is not often played because of the Taimanov Attack, but can be reached via the King's Indian to avoid this.

Many problems with your post:

1) Najdorf has more theory than the Dragon. If you don't know it, you can forget it. 6.h3? 6.Rg1? 6.a4? 6.h4? Yeah, there is a lot more than just the big 5 (Be2, Be3, Bc4, Bg5, f4)

2) There is no such thing as the "French Sicilian". Chess.com has this idiotic idea that a variation name must exist at every move, so that threw that in there for 2...e6. There is no such thing. It is merely the Sicilian Defense until further moves are made, at which point a variation name can be tied to it, like Deferred Alapin, Taimanov, Kan, Sicilian Counter-Attack (a.k.a The Pin Variation), Four Knights, etc.

3) The Scheveningen is not utter trash. Black has at least 3 options against the Keres Attack that are fine for Black. Personally, I think 6...h6 is Black's best response.

i like the kupreichlik because i played a dude otb who was very good at it and beat me and i like its flexibility

also the kupreichlik is a waiting move to see how white sets up, its very flexable and you transpose into other variations alot

also i realized i used strong wording, the keres attack isint what destroys black, it just is really good and black has a hard game

also regardless of the nadjorf having tons of theory its not as difficult to navigate as black then as the dragon

lets say that white knows theory and black does not, how much faster will black lose in the dragon compared to the nadjorf, black loses faster in the dragon

I wouldn’t totally rule out the dragon because in rare positions, g6 is the only accurate move, but you would have to understand why?

Because you are a French player, I would just play e6 Sicilians as it wouldn’t be a stretch to hit all the Sicilian notes.

Another thing you must factor, you’ll likely get an anti-Sicilian or transposition where most times, e6 is playable and d6 is a waste of tempo or weakening move.

I really don't think you're going to find anything that's that much more aggressive and dynamic than the French, especially in the Winawer. However, if you actually do plan on switching fully to the Sicilian looking for dynamic aggression, I'd naturally gravitate towards the Najdorf. The Bg5 Najdorf is to the Sicilian as the Poisoned Pawn Winawer is to the French. You'll need to know your theory, of which there are volumes, because both sides are going to be trading deadly blows and one false step might lose the entire game. You'll need to learn a lot more than just the Bg5 variations, though, but the payoff will definitely be worth it.

You aren't wrong on French being mighty sharp but it takes two to tango there, OP probably got sick of Exchange French. Though, he is in for a suprise when he will try Sicillian 🙃 assuming he isn't 2000+ and people start playing Open Sicillian.

Yeah, I get the Exchange more than the Advance more than the Nc3/Nd2 lines unfortunately. I'm fine with it but it makes it really hard to practice theoretical lines. The reason I don't mind that is there's less to learn than all the various Closeds, the various Rossolimos, Alapin, Smith-Morra, Delayed Alapin, Pin, Wing Gambits, Canal, Prins, Chekhover, Chameleon, and everything else I forgot about. There's a LOT of anti-Sicilians.

Ethan you are putting me off of the thought of ever touching Sicillian 😭