Yes you have hit on an important point. 2 Bc4 is bad for white. 2...e6 is the best response.
Sicilian with 2.Bc4 ?
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Yes you have hit on an important point. 2 Bc4 is bad for white. 2...e6 is the best response.
Clearly 2.Bc4 is about the weakest relevant reply White can make, I agree. However, my problem with the line you proposed is that it makes the worst use of the overextended Bishop I think. Now it's nice to kind of get a tempo out of it, but after the check, block, capture, and recapture, you don't get anything except exchanging of light squared bishops, with no decisive advantage out of the line.
In my experience, players who extend their Bishop out like that are prone to follow with their Queen if you give them the idiot f7 mate to look at. Thus, I find 2. ... Nc6 to be very strong, because when they make their 'brilliant' mating combo with Qf3, you can play Nf3 in security that they cannot move their pawn to attack it and try and force the mate. I find that the inevitable b4 pawn advance of Black's is enough of a threat that if you let them block their pawns in early with ridiculous piece moves, your Queenside demonstrations become unstoppable. Im actually playing a game with similar themes right now, I'll get back to you on how it turns out.
Yes, I agree that 2... Nc6 prevents the mate on f7 after 3... Nf6 with natural development and it seems a good line. I think i prefer to gain the tempo and (like in the game) if white chooses to check the king and exchange then I also like the fact that black has the majority of control in the centre. The only bad thing i experienced was getting my king into safety without losing my pawn on d5, being the weakest pawn unable to be defended by another pawn.
Apart from that I like 2... e6, maybe that is because the first time I tried it turned out well, maybe with more accurate/aggressive play from white I would have been in trouble with the open e file onto my King who was far from being castled.
I have never seen this variation before, but, after looking at the position in question, I think that Bc4, although developing a piece, is the weakest possible developing move for white. After the e6 response and your response Nf3 Black can attack with Nf6, forcing an early confrontation in the center and white to overextend.
17. Rad1?
17. Rxe8+! Qxe8 18. Qc3!
interesting game
Yes, im a fan of Sicillian and have been getting the over extended bishop response from 7/10 of the players. This had led to me winning 5/7 of those games!
what do you do when white plays 3 Nc3? if you push to d5 now it just loses a pawn...
Hopefully i'll get a discussion going whether this is a good line for white or not? especially if a player is unfamiliar with the basic moves.
Here is a game I played against 2.Bc4 (as Black) and I adopted an idea I saw in a forum in chessworld.net
What do you think of 2.Bc4, and also blacks response 2... e6.
What other replies can be given to 2.Bc4 ? What other lines do you suggest, any favourite variations of the sicillian - and why?
Any comments on the game? Any improvements to my choices of moves?
Thanks for any comments.