Which Sicilian Defense (for Black) should I study and make part of my repertoire?

That line in #93 is certainly not better for Black, actually 9...Ng6?! is quite dubious because of 10.Nd5!

Same motif is the other line Angry Puffer is analysing, or thinks he's analysing: 9.Bg5 f6 10.Be3 Ng6?! 11.Nd5! works again, and there is a very well known example (#104).

And... no, Van Wely's mistake on that game isn't b5 as you claim there, but rather playing Ng6 early: he should have played 9...b5 10.Bb3 Bb7, which is approximately equal (actually Naka lost this recently as Black, but it was just a blitz game).

Still, feel free to claim that Black is winning by force, if that makes you happy.

blacks not winning by force but Ng6 is the computers top move. black gives the piece back if Ng5 and gets an easy game

Or this:

My computer thinks that 9...b5 is the way to go, and that white is slightly better after 9...Ng6. And 9...b5 is played 5 times more frequently over 9...Ng6 OTB, and 2 times at correspondence chess.

Hi!

I think it will depend on your playing style. Attacking players might choose Najdorf, Dragon or Sveshnikov. On the other hand other variations like Kan, Taimanov, Scheveningen are more of a positional nature - but you have to be always prepared for a tactical complications!.

Good luck!

Just pplay the Sveshnikov with 10....Bg7

You can reach the four knights from the old sicilian if you're concerned about it. Though I don't think I'd prefer the Rossolimo to b3 or the KIA.

my experience with different sicilians is.....

nimzowitsch sicilian - puts very early pressure on white to know their theory. I found that only a very small percentage of players know the main line, and I usually just wound up with a significant advantage out of the opening. It probably handles the anti-sicilians the best of any variation simply because it's a move 2 deviation and you can transpose both the alapin and the smith morra into nimzowitsch-like positions

dragon - you have to play this sharp, especially the yugoslav. But if you know the yugoslav deep I don't think it's something to worry about with it. Just put alot of effort into learning the line and it's fine

hyperaccelerated dragon - there are some sharp lines where the queens come out early, but again if you know the lines well it's fine, just leads to an early endgame... you bypass alot of anti sicilians this way so it's nice

accelerated dragon - again there are some sharp and risky early lines you have to know, but fine if you know them. that seems to be the story with these dragon setups. Overall I actually prefer the mainline dragon, I'm not really that afraid of the yugoslav to where I'd rather play a marcozy bind position or these early queen attack positions...

four knights - it's easy equality with d5 / Bb4 unless they know one of the main lines (6... Ndb5 or 6... Nxc6 are both good lines, though not common to encounter at club level), though after pushing d5 you do still have to be careful for the counterattack on the kingside, and be very weary of trading off your darksquare bishop

taimanov - again you can often get some early and easy d5 pushes with these lines. If white plays some of the mainlines though it can get sharp

kan - it's a bit more theoretical as far as the french sicilians go. if you like to get the opponent out of their book and into yours this is a good way to do it

scheveningen - it's kind of risky but then again people rarely ever face it or know how to respond to it. People generally just assume g4 is a magic bullet to it but it's really not that simple, if you study the Keres attack lines deeply and carefully you will do well and usually equalize. Some of the positions are kind of nonlinear and very complex / theoretical... this can be difficult but that's also part of the fun of it, and there's alot of opportunity to outplay people in these lines

najdorf - very sharp and theoretical... white has alot of viable responses. it's considered one of the most, if not the most, objectively sound variation... usually this is why people play it, but at club level I'm skeptical that this is a wise choice... it's very common and you need to study alot to get good at it.

classical - it's kind of an easy way to cut down on theory and still have a very fundamentally sound and aggressive sicilian position. of course you have to play the rauzer, and that's quite difficult for black, but it's also the only really difficult line here... so can also focus very heavily just on mastering that line... and the rauzer isn't objectively bad for black, it's just hard to play. But otherwise you generally just get easy aggression due to having played Nc6 over a6

lowenthal - it's a good position, more piece play than other sicilians, aggressive early, white usually doesn't know the lines

sveshnikov - it's basically a sharp tactical theoretical opening that's objectively good for black generally speaking

The Najdorf used to be fully playable at club level.

I played it with success in OTB tournaments from the time I was rated 1400.

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