what should i play vs the sicilian (now a discussion of whites side of the sicilian)

#261 after e4 e5 Nc3 Nf6 f4, exf4 is considered bad

I respect his recommendation of the Alapin as a simple alternative to the Open Sicilian for beginners. I can give the Alapin credit where it's due, but it's not for me. If opponent plays Sicilian against me, it feels like a missed opportunity not to go Open. That's my opinion.

Fair enough, but the Alapin isn’t just for beginners, the course is beginner friendly but it’s also for intermediate level players and advanced level players too. But meh that’s fair, Alapin is my favourite anti sicilian

me: reacts to a post with laughter emoji

me later: who posted that, i should check ohhh its me

also when people play the closed sicilian, they expect black does not know anything. and when they do white is shocked and black wns

Accepting the true Benko Gambit is perfectly good but not in these Benko Deferred King's Indian lines. I think the reason is that black is better developed so they build up initiative very quickly. Here was an example:

Black has a strong queenside attack. At the very least, they will win back the pawn with interest. This is why white is better off playing 9. a4 instead of 9. bxa6.

I was looking into these ideas for black. It is something else I've found which is relatively unexplored. It can be played against a lot of different variations like Averbakh, Makogonov and Four Pawns Attack. Not Sämisch, b5 only works because the c3 knight is tied down to e4.

ok I'm utterly clueless to what's happening

samuel could you please reinform me on your latest reply to my latest post (if you have given one)

yeah, the reason i dont play b5 in the kid is because of the a4 thing,

but declining the normal benko i belive just gives equality

Yeah, it's a bit of a gimmick. You are just hoping they take the pawn so you can pressure the queenside and if they don't then you don't have anywhere near as good play.

It can still be interesting after a4, like there are still some attacking ideas on the queenside, but it's dubious and you don't get as much activity.

I think the declined variations of the Benko are still good for white but not anywhere near as ambitious as going up a pawn and developing. I'm not a fan of these moves b6 and e3 even if they are still fine for white. b6 isn't doing anything to further white's development. e3 is a bit timid. I would much prefer a structure with e4 or g3 at the very least.

yeah, i think e4 is just best regardless of Bxf1 because in the fianchetto variation white delays e4 for a long time and black gets alot of pressure on d5 and the darksquares. the a4 variation of the king walk is the only reason to play it. its near op

but in the fianchetto white gets b3 and sometimes a bishop on the dark squares, also pushing e4 can weaken d3 alot

like in this variation you can just shuffle your pieces around and never make progress

When did this discussion turn into a Benko Gambit 💀

btw I changed my repertoire against the Sicilian, I play the Open against d6, the Rossolimo against Nc6, and a King’s Indian Attack transposition against e6

What do you guys think?

an alapin transposition against e6 idk why I said KIA, I was thinking about the French for a moment

valid

personally i dont like to play agianst e6 because usually black just sits there and waits for you to mess up + alot of theory+ they get good counterplay

@Sea_Turtle

I guess that's 12. a4. Damn, this does incredibly well for white. What's the main point of it? Ra3 and Nb5 it seems like?

Yeah, this looks like a long game for both sides.

Play whatever you enjoy. If you enjoy GPA then go ahead and play it.

it's interesting. If you like playing against Najdorf, Classical and Dragon but don't like playing against the others as much then it can make sense to cut back on them with Rossolimo and KIA. The d6 Sicilians are my favourite to play against personally. They are the most fun.

I know you said you meant Delayed Alapin against e6 but KIA is also viable against e6 Sicilian and can transpose into the same line as the French KIA.