What are some good queenside castling setups for white on the sicilian?

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Karlabos

One thing I like for making the sicilian a bit more interesting is castling opposite sides and storming. Given that black most of the time is going to castle kingside this means I'd like to castle queenside as white.

In some openings there are general setups for queenside castling/storming that seem to work out pretty well, such as the 150 or the bayonet against pirc. So I'm wondering, what are some good setups for queenside castling against the sicilian defense?

Back a while ago I was liking the velimirovic 1.e4, c5 2. Nf3, d6 3.d4, cxd4 4.Nxd4, Nf6 5. Nc3, e6. 6. Bc4, Nc6 7. Be3, Be7. 8.Qe2

Now the thing I like about this setup is that the queen on the white diagonal d1-h5 already supports the g4 push, so white could push g4, maybe g5 with tempo on the N and then h4, and the storm is already very advanced without needing a 3-rank push preparation. But what I don't like is that this setup relies too heavily on specific moves by black. Basically it would work only on the main lines and black has to push e6 early and not fianchetto, so knowing this setup alone won't work against the sicilian, overall.

So what are some setups that also work against other sicilian variations?

I wonder if I can get a pack of queenside castling setups that will work most of the time, like, if I don't get one I can get the other...?

blank0923

I can't say there is a "setup" in the Open Sicilian for White; each Sicilian must be handled differently, hence the immense theory. There's always going to be subtle differences between the different ways White plays against the different Sicilians.

I'm thinking maybe the English Attack "setup" against the Najdorf is somewhat universal? But because the different Sicilians have pieces placed differently, the theory is going to be different. In other words, if you're looking for an autopilot setup in the Open Sicilian, that does not exist.

ThrillerFan

It depends on the line chosen by Black.

In some cases, castling queenside is useless for White.  Other times it is necessary.  Others it is an option.

 

Against the Dragon, it is almost obligatory if White wants anything.

In the Najdorf or Taimanov, you can play the English Attack and castle queenside.

Against the pin variation, it is suicidal.

 

There are others that fall in each of those categories.