Problem I'm having with the Sicilian
Sort:
Well - I think e6 is probably the move I would consider followed by Qe7 if white continues with Qf3...
Thanks - this is great help. Your analysis of what I could have done in this position is great. I'm wondering though, if I'm in the position above, why is 5...e6 6. Qf3 Nf6 better than 5...e6 6. Qf3 Qe7? This leaves my f7 bishop aiming at his rook. If he continues with Qf7 and we trade queens, he ends up with a knight down. Perhaps my exposed king is worth the knight?
Qe7 seems like a passive move to me, and it doesnt really improve your position much and allows the opponent to continue attacking, Nf6 develops your knight and prepares for castling which will put an end to his attack on f7 now your opponent has to regroup. your opponent wont trade queens and lose a knight thats like suicide. and for the bishop attacking his rook, you can still move your knight after you castle.
thats the way i see it :)
That makes perfect sense Pharaoh, thanks!
e6 and you're fine.
If he brings his queen out Nf6 or Ne5 works.
The attack on f7 is premature and white loses time.
after g6, though, e6 has the drawback of leaving f6 weak. white's 3 Bc4 contains the implicit threat of Ng5, so it might be better to deal with it right away via 3 ... e6 & forgetting about the kingside fianchetto. in your line, 4 d3 is weak & strongly answered by 4 ... Na5, killing the strong bishop & disrupting white's Q-side pawns.
in the present situation, 5... e6 looks "automatic" to me
0
#10
e6 does solve your problems, yes, but I don't particular agree with Nf6 in response to Qf3. The most ideal post for the knight is e7 (travels to d4 easier, leaves bishop diagonal open, guards f5, etc.) not f6, so by playing Nf6, in a way, justifies white's silly knight sortie, if only by a little. The ideal square of e7 for the knight is also why Qe7 isn't too recommended. Let Ne5 solve all your Qf3 problems, which would also take care of the troublesome Bc4.
Don't worry; Ng5 is almost never a threat against sicilians, and playing e6 and g6 is perfectly alright for most closed-type sicilians as the game is not open enough for white to take advantage of it.
Nimzo33 wrote:
e6 does solve your problems, yes, but I don't particular agree with Nf6 in response to Qf3. The most ideal post for the knight is e7 (travels to d4 easier, leaves bishop diagonal open, guards f5, etc.) not f6, so by playing Nf6, in a way, justifies white's silly knight sortie, if only by a little. The ideal square of e7 for the knight is also why Qe7 isn't too recommended. Let Ne5 solve all your Qf3 problems, which would also take care of the troublesome Bc4.
Don't worry; Ng5 is almost never a threat against sicilians, and playing e6 and g6 is perfectly alright for most closed-type sicilians as the game is not open enough for white to take advantage of it.
I'll second that; just posting to add that after 5.. e6; since 6. Qf3 doesn't make sense any more in view of 6...Ne5 and 7...NxB; so the game should probably continue 6. O-O d5 7. Bb3 h6 8. Nf3; and now 8... b5 doesn't look bad at all to me. (the b-Knight plans to go to e7 - on 9. ed (not best probably) ed 10. Re1+ Nbd7.)
I was looking at something like 5. ... Nh6 6. Qf3 Ne5! 7. Qc3 Nxc4! 8. dxc4 d6 9. O-O Ng4 10. Nc3 h6 11. Nh3...
...and Black is having his way! There are nice chances for attack then on Qa5 or Be5.
e6 is the move i would playthen just continue my develpoment...
There is nothing wrong with 5...e6 with ...d5 to follow or 5...Ne5. It is only White who should feel ashamed with this opening.
Please Sign Up to comment.
If you need help, please contact our Help and Support team.
EDIT: Shoot... Please ignore the silly pawn on a4. Pretend he's not there. I can't take him out without rewriting the entire diagram, and I'd rather not. So sorry guys - he has no real effect on the game for the purposes of this demonstration.