The English attack vs Najdorf siccilian

I can't speak for blue emu, but since he's playing 5 ... a6 instead of 5 ... e6, he gets to avoid the Keres attack altogether, at least in its pure form. There are variants of it, though -- I believe 5. ... a6 6. Be3 e6 7. g4 is called the Perenyi attack. Is that what you're talking about?

Using a Najdorf move order (instead of a Scheveningen move order) takes some of the sting out of the Keres attack. By deferring ... e6 for one move, Black keeps the g4 square twice covered, and prevents 6. g4.

That's why moves like 6. Rg1 and 6. h3 became a thing... preparing 7. g4... but it effectively gives Black most of a tempo, if White insists on playing a Keres-like formation.

Sorry, for being late for so long - real life problems :-(

For 13. ... Nh4 this used to be mainline, played for exemple by Fisher and if online lectures I have watched are right, it returns to fasion now. The knight will go to f4, and so will stay on the rim shorter then after 13 ... Ne8 which is more fashionable, and also to the rim.

@ AngryPuffer Ofcourse I don't know enough about the Sicilian. The whole point of this thread is to try to alievate this problem

Since the lines are indeed very concrete, lets insert a diagram.

A lot of work arleady, and i had to use engine to recall some of it anyway. Any hints on what other lines to study/look deeper into?

At elite level 6Bg5 certainly hasn't been abandoned. With software it is relatively easy to prepare an one game novelty in those positions, and MVL, who was the biggest supporter of Nadjorf at elite level, has been playing other sicilian lines to avoid unphleasant suprises.

@24

6 Bg5 is razor sharp. A small mistake and black loses. A small mistake and white loses.
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1993385

My experience is that the former is true, but the latter's a bit more complicated. If White makes a small mistake, they've lost the initiative and perhaps stand a bit worse. Often Black does win those games, but they're often objectively holdable for a while. Very often, White's losses come from refusing to acknowledge that their attack isn't working and they need to find a way to bail out.

I'm sure there are cases, though, where Black wins on the spot.

I said that because it seemed as if you thought white didnt have much and black was faster, which is just incorrect

ive been looking around for novelty ideas in the english for awhile. Out of everything i think the most interesting would be a totally different setup

I've seen the h3 idea before, but typically combined with an f2-f4 plan, rather than Qf3 -- though I see that's in the database too. What's the point of placing the queen there? I'd have thought it was a little ineffective there, but maybe I'm missing some ideas. Does it move to g3?

If I were black, I probably wouldn't castle in that line, even if the engine thinks it's okay.

Can black play 8 ... h5, same as in the 8. f3 lines?

yeah he can, but the computer does not like it for some reason

white gives up a pawn but gets compensation ( i guess) and the computer really likes white here

@AngryPuffer what you have shown is VERY intresting. At first, engine shows Your line to be minimally weaker. However it seems it requires a different handling by black. If engine is to be trusted, the real inaccurency by Black in Your line was 10... b5?!, preferenig an odd 10...a4!?.

As I skim through the lines, it seems that if black tries to play as in the mainline, he runs into trouble fast. Given the initial evaluation, there probably is a defence for Black that makes the line a bit more less promising then the mainline.

So it goes. Pretenders catch on. Your toy engine says its weaker...is that chess.com?

There are dozens of moves that Gotham chess has...thats not good enough?

Add a Youtube for the latest clickbait.

Thats exactly the point. This line is not dubious, playable for a win, and is much less known and studied. even if black plays the top options white still has resources.

dont judge people by their rating. just because they appear as a certain rating online does not mean that they are of that level. ive been crushed by ¨1100s¨ here while also having beaten some 2000s. Opening and chess knowledge also does not impact elo by much. I study chess openings every day for fun and i know more than most, yet im not a master. While there are people here who are 2200+ and dont know any openings and still play well.

It appears to be based on one game. Which he won. (No, I didn’t look at the game. But let’s give him the benefit of the doubt.)

He appears to have registered the account six years ago. Maybe he was 800 level then. Or he went with a default. I’m not going to overthink it.

His posts here convey that he knows a thing or two. Not everything (who does?). But I see no reason to infantilize him.

Infantilize: To treat as if infantile.

In other words, to suggest that someone has no business asking quesitons he wants to ask.

It's especially obnoxious if your only contribution to an otherwise substantive thread is to tell the OP not to worry his pretty little head about these grown-up matters.

an accurate rating of 932. How do we know that his rating is accurate? he hasnt played enough games.

i looked at the game. He played well above his rating.

. . . and therefore shouldn't ask questions about openings he's interested in.

Riiiiiiight.