[Event "Unrated Standard: Challenge from loco61"]
[Site "SchemingMind.com"]
[Date "2005.02.11"]
[Round "-"]
[White "loco61"]
[Black "Stephen"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B57k"]
[WhiteCountry "ENG"]
[BlackCountry "ENG"]
[GameID "8659"]

1. e4
{
loco61: welcome to my first lesson for many a year! 

why do i always play e4? mainly as i know what i am going to do for the next 4/5 moves if my opponent replies e5 , what happens when the reply is c5? i play n-f3 and after that i am guessing! ... are there any sensible alternatives to n-f3 after e4,c5. 
}
1... c5
{
Stephen: Well the first thing to say to anyone watching is that we have agreed to play a Sicilian in advance - hence Black has no choice with his first move! If there are any experts in the Sicilian watching, then please chip in! With regards to White's second move I think that 2.Nf3 is by far the most popular. That said there are respectable alternatives that have been played by GM's, for example 2.Nc3 and 2.c3 (presumably intended to support a later d4) but unless you are keen to get your opponent out of "book" quickly, it might be worth sticking with the popular choice.
}
{
Stephen: Is it worth advertising the game in the Chess Chat forum to see if we can get any input from other SM members (who may happen to be Sicilian experts!)?
}
{
Stephen: By the way have you ever seen the following site - http://www.chessgames.com/perl/explorer? I find it quite helpful if trying to get to grips with an opening - it gives some idea of the most likely responses at each point.
}
{
Mel: Many thanks to you both for doing this.  I would love to learn about the S. defence, but I'm too lazy to study.  This is an ideal way to learn.  Good luck to you both.
}
{
Richard W: Hello to you both, look forward to following this game. I was interested by your opening comment, Andrew, on "why I always play e4." For me it's the reverse, I tend to open d4 precisely to cut down on Black's likely responses (e5, French, Sicilian, Alekhine, Scandinavian etc etc)since I find Black will almost invariably reply to d4 with d5 or Nf6 (or maybe c5) I wonder whether this is practical thinking or just lazy?!
}
2. Nf3
{
loco61: yes i would welcome any experts! i looked up the explorer...thanks, if i understand it right, of the 57000 games white wins 35% when black responds c5 and 35% are drawn. that makes me the favourite! As you say you didnt have a choice though.
What is the plan with the Sicilian? Control the middle, a perfect base to launch an attack ,simply to disrupt whites development or ...? ?
}
2... Nc6
{
Stephen: I’m afraid that I am not even remotely well qualified to provide a summary of all the plans that might evolve from a Sicilian game. I know that there are many books on many different lines within the opening and so I guess that there isn’t a brief, straightforward answer. If any of the other players watching have anything to add then it would be most welcome!

In the literature the Sicilian seems to be regarded as Black's best fighting defence against 1 e4 because it guarantees an unbalanced position, yet it is sound and active; strong Black players who need to win will often use it.

The Sicilian will be no different from any other opening in that we will need to develop our pieces, fight for the centre and look after the safety of our king. In this light it is noteworthy that that 1 ... c5 does not assist the development of Black's minor pieces (the knights and bishops) but does at least stake a claim in the centre.

The Sicilian allows White to play his pawn to d4 but it will be exchanged off straightaway, for example, 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4. It is then likely that a typical centre formation will arise with a White pawn on e4 and Black's pawns on d6/e6 or d6/e7. White has more space and easier development, while Black has an extra centre pawn and has succeeded in unbalancing the position.

Another consideration is that should Black’s c-pawn be exchanged for White’s d-pawn then Black may well be able to organise pressure with his rooks down the half-open c-file. In this way Black often looks for play on the queenside in Sicilian positions, perhaps while White is busy trying to attack on the kingside.

Let’s see how it goes…

White's next move is most usually 3.d4 but 3.Bb5 and 3.Nc3 are probably also worth thinking about.
}
3. d4
{
loco61: ...leading to the predicted exchange i guess, but i was quite keen on b-b5, how would white respond then?
}
3... cxd4
{
Stephen: You would certainly be in good company playing 3.Bb5 – there are plenty of games on ChessBase’s Online Database in which top players like Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand, Adams etc have played that line. In response very strong Black players would normally play 3.d6, 3.g6 or 3.e6. White can then exchange bishop for knight on c6, causing Black’s pawns to be doubled on the c-file. Personally I don’t think this is a huge advantage to White in the short term and many of the top players don’t bother with the exchange, preferring to keep hold of the bishop.

In order for Black to try to keep the initiative I might be tempted to play 3…Nd4 and if 4.Nxd4 cxd4 then it would be interesting to see how much of a nuisance Black’s pawn on d4 would be to White. It’s not a line that the very top players tend to try, but it certainly has been played by lower level (but still strong) players. If you played 3.Bb5 then you would certainly need to be aware of this possibility.
}
{
Stephen: Thanks Austin for converting us to an unrated game.
}
4. Nxd4
{
loco61: yes thanks austin, my mistake... hopefully my last for a few moves!
}
4... Nf6
{
Stephen: Of course it is too early in the game to come to any real judgement but in this position you can make a case for White standing a bit better because (i) he has more space in the centre and (ii) it will be easy for him to develop his bishops to good squares without delay; Black has still got to shift pawns out of the way before his bishops can move. However it is not all bad for Black, he can comfort himself by arguing (i) that he has an extra pawn in the centre and (ii) that he has no obvious weaknesses that White can attack.

I would be surprised if a Black player exchanged knights on d4 at this point - he should be more interested in trying to catch up on development. I think that 4...Nf6 will be the most common move here, although 4...e6 might be worth thinking about (beginning to clear a path for development of the dark squared bishop and perhaps planning to support a later ...d5).

Of course with 4...Nf6 Black is developing with a threat (...Nxe4) which White must respond to. Reacting to the threat with a developing move is probably the best policy (i.e. 4...Nc3), I certainly couldn't find too many GM games in which any alternative was played.
}
5. Nc3
{
loco61: yes Nc3 it is , i cant see any other move having been tempted but not convinced by the exchange of knights on c6,  and d-d3 would leave my queen exposed and defending two pieces , 
}
5... d6
{
Stephen: This is a very obvious (and popular) move for Black, helping to defend the e5 square and allowing the c8-bishop to develop when required. It is also quite non-committal in the sense that Black has yet to really announce what sort of defence he is going to adopt.

I do not think that 6.Nxc6 is a very good option for White here. After 6...bxc6 then we will have the same number of pieces developed (i.e. one!) and Black will have more pawns in the centre of the board. Also White would have taken three moves to get his knight from g1 to c6, to take a knight that had only moved once.

Based on normal opening principles (i.e. nothing special for the Sicilian!), it seems essential now that White should develop one of his bishops; but which one, and to which square? My personal view is that the two most promising moves are 6.Bg5 (which develops a piece with a threat, i.e. to exchange on f6 leaving Black with weakening doubled pawns) or 6.Bc4 (again developing a piece agressively, eyeing the Black weak point at f7).  6.Be2 has also been played but somehow looks a more conservative option. Some GM's have also tried 6.f3, which involves the obvious plan of supporting the e4-pawn but probably also has some more hidden meaning that I simply don't understand! Over to you...
}
{
loco61: ok , i will leave f3 alone then, and as i am trying to learn not to be too cautious will ignore be2 as well as b-e3 which i was looking at, whats wrong though with b-b5 pinning his knight and attacking it with two pieces? i also like the idea of a speedy castle
}
{
Stephen: Good question. I think the first point worthy of note is that if you follow down to this position on the www.chessgames.com website then you will see that 6.Bb5 is not very popular (only 19 apperances in 6291 games, with Black winning over 50%). Hence 6.Bb5 isn't regarded very highly by strong players. Black's fairly obvious response of 6...Bd7 means that there is no real threat in the move. In fact it seems likely that there will be an exchange of minor pieces (possibly prompted by Black playing ...a6 later), which seems to be of no advantage to White (see previous comment concerning the Nxc6 move). As a general rule I don't think it is good strategy to exchange pieces just for the sake of it and in fact the reduction in forces in this case will probably make Black's defensive task easier. Overall I'm not arguing that 6.Bb5 is a blunder or anything like that, its just not the strongest move that White can play in the position.
}
6. Bc4
{
loco61: then i am settling for b-c4 allowing an early castle, i have lost so many games with my king exposed that this is personally important! and as you say f7 looks inviting
}
6... Qb6
{
Stephen: Black's queen emerges with another threat - the d4 knight is attacked by two pieces and defended by only one. I think White's best plan is to move the knight as defending it again doesn't seem a great option (e.g. Be3 drops the b2 pawn, although this has been played as a gambit line and White has fared OK; Nce2 drops the e4 pawn). The arguments against Nxc6 still stand and so we are probably left with Nf3, Nde2, Ndb5 and Nb3(the favourite at GM level seems to be the latter).
}
7. Nb3
{
loco61: am now eager to eventually castle on the queens side, it looks better protected, but should i be thinking more aggressively
}
7... e6
{
Stephen: Of course the knight retreat to b3 helps with development of White’s dark squared bishop next move because Black can no longer take the b2-pawn. When White thinks about castling on the queenside he should be aware that 0-0-0 would leave his king on a half-open file; that’s not to say that White shouldn’t castle long, but he should consider the implications fully first! 7…e6 reduces the pressure on f7 and allows Black to develop his bishop at e7, which is a modest development but at least clears the way for castling. White will probably develop his final minor piece next move before deciding which way to castle.
}
8. Be3
{
loco61: protecting f2 and attacking the queen?  ... any good??
}
8... Qc7
{
Stephen: 8.Be3 seems fine; 8.Bf4 and 8.Bg5 are probably OK too depending what you feel like playing. Black's response probably doesn't warrant explanation but now it begins to get interesting. What should White do next? He could castle and get his king to safety. He could think about moving his queen to leave open castling on both wings (but to which square should the queen go?). He could even think about re-deploying his light squared bishop which doesn't look as dangerous now that Black has played ...e6 (e.g. Bd3). Alternatively is he feeling positive and aggressive? Well White certainly has a space advantage and a lead in development and perhaps he should be thinking about how to use those advantages before Black can organise his forces. 9.f4 is often played in this position (by very strong players), the idea probably being to grab some more space in the centre perhaps as a prelude to a kingside attack. It certainly looks the most aggressive and perhaps most interesting option but only if White is happy with it!
}
9. f4
{
loco61: that is a move i would never have played!  i would have either castled or taken q-d2 or e2, yes i would ahve castled as i wasnt sure which square was better for my queen! but i like f4! for the moment at least
}
{
Stephen: Please see PM for the moves of the game Judit Polgar vs Branko Damljanovic in which White builds up a crushing kingside attack from this position.
}
9... a6
{
Stephen: Black is beginning to feel a little nervous! As White is threatening to build up on the kingside, Black will probably look for counterplay on the queenside. The point of ...a6 here is to support ...b5, which in turn allows Black's light squared bishop to find a reasonably good square at b7. I suspect that White's thinking here should be how to press home the advantage rather than playing safe! Moves that spring to mind might be Bd3 (re-positioning the bishop to a more open diagonal and hence a more aggressive position), Qf3 (positioning the queen for some fun on the kingside) or even 0-0 (although this is more about the positioning of the rook rather than king safety). Over to you again...
}
{
loco61: yes now i like the look of qf3 ... looking for the crushing kingside attack you mention!
}
10. Qf3 b5
{
Stephen: I mentioned this move earlier. Note now how queenside castling looks a bit less attractive for White - Black's pawn are getting close on that wing.
}
11. Bd3
{
loco61: i have played throught the Judit Polgar game today and am hoping to get my rooks into the action soon!
}
11... Bb7
{
Stephen: Completing the previously discussed sequence for Black.
}
12. O-O
{
loco61: a4 for white followed 12 0-0 and ...b-e7 in the Polgar game but i dont like the look of that, mainly as i dont it!... my knights aren´t in danger, what was the thinking behind 13 a4
}
12... Be7
{
Stephen: I'm no expert but in other openings I've seen a move like a4 played to limit Black's counterplay. Obviously if Black plays ...bxa4 then White is no longer under threat from Black's queenside pawns. On the other hand if Black plays ...b4 that's about as far as it can go, the White a4 pawn stops Black's a-pawn progressing any further than a5. My move is simply to try and get some play for my dark squared bishop.
}
13. g4
{
Stephen: Hm, time we broke away from that Polgar game. My thinking here is that if I wait for your kingside attack to develop, and castle into it, then I'll get slaughtered. My move at first seems like a panic reaction (perhaps it is) but there is some logic and it certainly seems to muddy the waters. I am not too concerned about risking the safety of my king over there because I don't see that wing as a safe place anyway given your build-up. If you play fxg5 then I will follow with ...Ne5 and then play ...N(f)xg4 winning the pawn back. Since I haven't castled yet (and might not!) then it is questionable who will gain most from the open nature of the g-file.
}
13... g5
{
loco61: am thinking about h4, and if you take it g5 frocing your knight back? 
}
14. h4
{
loco61:  "forcing" i meant
}
14... h6
{
Stephen: I don't think there is any great advantage to Black in taking the pawn on h4 (White can't re-take it immediately but I'm sure it would fall eventually). I think that White needs to be a bit careful here; the danger is that with kingside pawns disappearing fast, it is White's king that will end up on the open files and under threat, not Black's. Note that in the Polgar game, I felt that Black appeared to castle into the trouble and so I'm trying to avoid it.
}
15. h5
{
loco61: ok ... my natural game.. caution
}
15... gxf4
{
Stephen: Continuing with the plan of opening lines on the kingside, towards the White king.
}
16. Bxf4
{
loco61: expecting to draw back in front of the king to g3 after e5?? 
}
16... Rg8
{
Stephen: Things are getting a bit complicated now.
}
17. Ne2
{
loco61: yes .. i am not sure what i am doing anymore... but i enjoyed the first 15 moves!
}
17... Nxg4
{
Stephen: I think that whatever happens from here, the point worth taking away from the opening phase of the game is that we played a perfectly respectable line of the Sicilian, working most of it out as we went along with quite simple logic. (If its good enough for Judit Polgar then I think we can assume its respectable). At the moment it seems to be a case of who can come up with the nastiest tactics - positional / strategical consideratins seem to have gone out of the window!
}
18. Bg3
{
loco61: yes i am playing white against c5 with cwm at the moment and he has played e5 very early on attacking my knight on d4 ... this has definitely been a useful training for me ... thanks
}
18... Nce5
{
Stephen: I had a quick look at your game against CWM but it wouldn't be fair to comment!
}
19. Qf4 Bg5 20. Qxf7+
{
loco61: tell me about it afterwards, e5 threw me a bit! i think my queen here is a bit exposed!!! thanks for the game and all the tips!
}
20... Nxf7
{
Stephen: I'm glad its been of some use. As I said at the oustset, I don't really play the Sicilian and so I've found it interesting too. If you fancy doing it again when we've finished this one, with me trying to play the White side of a Sicilian, that might be quite instructive for both of us too!
}
{
Game Over: yes ... will take up that offer, challenge me as white, "no rating"
}
0-1

