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

Lol tbf Scandinavian is actually more common.

honestly I can't argue with that

would you rather:

a) play smth like gpa then have to change to open once you get good enough

b) start off with open from the beginning, thus removing the awkward opening change

#88, like samuel has said idk how many times

whats the chance your opponent knows theory

and... does open sicilian even mean tons of theory? i was suggested the adams attack, with like no theory

and that fun thing i was talking about is more a rebuttal at the people who play these gambits and what not to win quick

win quick.... wow thats just not paying respect to chess at all

#89, look at players database scandi is third

actually lol looking at the stats from there sicilian is second behind e5, but then i rarely face it

its confusing

No-one knows extensive Open Sicilian theory at this level. Especially in the line I gave.

The GPA has been played millions of times but this Adams Attack line has barely been played at all so if you're talking about surprise factor then that's way more unexpected.

Some people just repeat the same rhetoric "because it's Open Sicilian, there's more theory". This is actually true, there's more theory for the opponent to learn so they will be less likely to know everything. The GPA has less theory, so once someone faces it enough times they can easily learn the limited theory to counter it.

Looking in the lichess amateur's database, Scandi is more popular in -1200 while Sicilian becomes more popular in -1400.

Alright, the Adams attack. No theory. Pretty good, ngl. Now give me something against the Dragon, the Classical, the Scheveningen, the Kupreichik, the Accelerated Dragon, the Hyper-Accelerated Dragon, the Nimzowitsch, the Paulsen-Kan, the Taimanov, the Pin, the Normal Line, and dozens of other lines I don't even know exist. Am I even gonna be able to memorize even something in each of these lines at the same time? To make it worse, GothamChess recommends extreme sidelines, and he has millions of viewers. If anything, I might see h6 out of the blue.

By the way, if my opponent plays a sideline I don't know, they immediately have the advantage. I don't know the little traps in the "Gaw-Paw" variation. I don't know any ounce of the theory in these weird, sideline variations.

yeah

but just play reasonable defensive moves, and i feel there are general stuff in terms of what loses and what doesnt

besides, just book up later

The problem is, black doesn't need to know all the Open Sicilian theory. Keep in mind, the Open Sicilian isn't the Najdorf and the intense mainlines. Black needs to know their 1 preferred line. I need to learn dozens in order to know how to counter it. My brain can't even remember what I had for breakfast today. If black knows the Nimzowitsch and I don't know it, I'm dead. Playing the Grand Prix, the Closed Sicilian, and basically anything other than the Open Sicilian drastically cuts down on my study time. If you're an absolutely dedicated chess player, sure, play the Open Sicilian, but I'm 900. I'm not learning all that theory.

also, some sidelines dont even have traps lol

some common stuff is qa4/ qa5 checks for forks; weak b7 square if the bishop wanders out, weak f7 square, weak diagonal checks (h5-e8/ e1-h4)

im 1400 there

When you see something unexpected, you just play chess instead of memorising moves. The irony of Open Sicilian detractors who claim "you have to memorise loads of moves" is that a lot of them are dependent on a set of memorised moves in some opening system that they play.

The way the GPA is played by many is actually not that different from the London. It's like a system where you play the same memorised moves over and over.

Accelerated Dragon and Hyper-Accelerated Dragon transpose into the exact same thing. The only reason anyone plays the Hyper-Accelerated is to avoid the Rossolimo. That's it. The Hyper-Accelerated does literally nothing else.

Regardless of the Sicilian, there are some common ideas and themes that relate to many of them. Like playing for g4. Even if you don't know theory, how hard is it to do this?

Pieces out, castle, play the game. Not rocket science.

#98

ok black needs to know their one thing

but they also need to know all the ways white can deviate

while white needs to know all the ways black can deviate

besides, its possible to have a 'general knowledge' of what stuff to do

also, theres a 0% chance levy is recommending anything as black in the sicilian

If I play reasonable defensive moves, I'm certainly going to fall into some sort of trap. For example, let's say someone plays an English attack setup in the Kan. This is their game.

This is a lost position for white. And they didn't even do anything supposedly "wrong", they just followed their setup. That's how important it is to know the theory here.

#103

whats the chance black knows that

people know less about openings than you think

theres a chance they just happened to push pawns exactly that way, and moved the queen out cuz thats what beginners do

They clearly did do something wrong. They allowed a fork. This is simple tactics. Not theory.

But praying that your opponent doesn't know the best move in their own opening is, first of all, spitting on the game of chess, and second of all, insanely risky. There's a 50/50 chance you lose or get a regular game. That's just terrible.

someone does a early bd3 setup thing vs d6 sicilians

they do that vs nc6 sicilians and lose the knight on d4

its their fault

not the open sicilian's

thats obvious

lol

thats what all risky gambits are

assuming the opponent doesnt know the best moves in their own opening

insanely risky

spitting on the game of chess

50/50 chance