the taimanov has a much more positional nature whereas there is always scope for counter attack in the sveshnikov. with the anti sicilians, not many need much specific memorisation and none are terribly dangerous although against taimanov move orders anti sicilians are much more dangerous. because of this i would recommend the sveshnikov.
Taimanov v Sveshnikov
Sort:
After a bit of a break from the sicilian, specifically the sveshnikov to change up my game a little bit ive decided to come back to the sicilian defence for at least a few months to prepare for a tournament in july.
Ive had exceptionally good results with the sveshnikov OTB, however I feel the wide range of anti sicilians, most of which i dont enjoy playing offsets the natural feel ive had for the sveshnikov positions.
In my eyes the taimanov has these advantages/disadvantages:
-Less anti sicilian systems.
-Most anti sicilian systems can be answered with a 2..e6 style plan, as such there isnt the ammount of transpositional issues as the sveshnikov has.
-Wider range of positions, keeps it interesting.
-easier to play (??) less memorisation involved
Disadvantages:
-Not as much counter attacking opportunity
-Many of the moves seem less natural/forced, so it may be hard to find the bes moves OTB
-not as punishing for players who do not follow theory after e5. (This was my favourite point of the sveshnikov, the nf3 lines and nb3 lines after e5 scored me many wins).
Are there any major advantages/disadvantages i missed that you guys would like to add? Also which system do you prefer/recommend?