Sveshnikov Early King Hunt

The sveshnikov is pretty much refuted at higher levels, I think. Never the less very nicely played. :)

Thanks for your appreciation :-)

As for the first line of your comment, I don't think it's refuted. Plus we shouldn't try to discourage others playing this opening.
It normally leads to very complex play that requires extreme accuracy from both sides. Black gets very much dynamic play in return for the positional weakness on d5, which is very instructive to play with - or against - and White gets the positional edge, which is also very instructive to play with or against. So I am of the opinion that if you want to improve your play, the Sveshnikov for both White and Black is very enterprising.

Same for youth players encouraged to play gambits. By playing them you learn the abilities of your pieces, and the teamwork of your pieces combined.

I see where you're coming from, playing these types of tactical openings do improve one's understand of the game I suppose.

Play it against an opponent that has a little experience however, and you'll probably end up going down pretty harshly (Which I experienced first hand at the hands of a Fide Master, regardless of having memorized the entire line we played I still lost.)

Well, yes, there is a difference between memorizing a line and understanding what you are doing. I guess that FM understood the position somewhat better.

Coming back to the 'little experience will do', there are more GM's that have played the Sveshnikov than those who haven't. A quote I once read:
"Topalov (ranked 7 in the FIDE rating list of May 2011), Leko (26), Kramnik (4), Carlsen (2), Shirov (32) and Radjabov (13) all play it often; Leko particularly frequently and Radjabov virtually all the time." - IM John Cox 2007

Is this variation of the Sicilian also known as the Lowenthal? If not, what is the major difference. Thanks

The main difference between this setup and the Lowenthal is the insertion of Nf6 and Nc3. In addition, White plays Nb5 instead of Nf5, and then there is the difference with the Kalashnikov, which arises after 5. ... d6, while in the Lowenthal, Black plays 5. ... a6.

Thanks for the information. Have you played the Lowenthal yourself and what did you think of it? I am interested in learning more about the Sveshnikov and have played this game over a few times. It appeals to the aggressive nature of play that I enjoy. Thanks for sharing.

An advice I give to everyone: play online chess here and use the notepad.

I have never played either the Kalashnikov or the de la Bourdonnais or the Lowenthal.

Take a look at my Sveshnikov Queen Sacrifice game here:

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-showcase/sicilian-sveshnikov-variation-queen-sacrifice

Very nice! I'm impressed with your level of obvious confidence with this defense. Again, thanks for sharing.