I wonder which is the best system against the sicilian as white.
1. Know all variations against all 10-20 lines.
2. Alapin c3
3. Morra gambit
4. Some d3 closed
5. fianchetto variations
6. c4? is this playable against all lines?
Just curious about the opinon.
Right know im trying with 1. e4. c5. 2. Nf3 X.move 3. c4. But its so DAMN BORING AFTER 10 games.
The morra i cant play. The alapin not good. d3 just sucks.
And knowing all is impossible.
Somebody else have this annoying problem.
My positions just end up 15 moves open with no play at all, or some position struggling. Which to prefer?
How to beat this chimp opening.
Yeah, Sicilians are hard. I personally use a combination of d3 and fianchetto, like a King's Indian Attack. I have tried the Morra and I hate it. I don't know whether it may be suitable for you, but have you tried the Wing Gambit?
Rossolimo and Bb5 are best in my opinion. Playing for a solid +=, no Sicilian cheap trick 3.d4 cxd4, simply awesome. But you have to know some ideas, sure. And something against ...e6, KIA for example.
Why do you think you can't play the Smith-Morra? It has so many juicy traps for White; you can run a Fried Liver if they don't play right; you can run a FLA on the opposite side too if they don't know to move that a6 pawn. You can trap their N or hassle their Q, maybe trap her. There are many miniatures that can happen. It can even morph into the Greek Gift B Sac and then opponent is done; another miniature! Mayhem in the Morra is a good book on it and lots of you tube vids. They say Winning with the SM by Burgess is good too.
You're much better than me; you could learn much on it in a short time.
Since I learned about it, that's all I play against c5 and look forward to them playing that on me. It is an exciting, attacking defense.
Have you considered playing the Grand Prix Attack? I think it is a good alternative to Open Sicilians (though, in all fairness, I have no choice but to play it, because I don't play 1. e4, but sometimes end up in a Grand Prix by transposition).
Actually i like all the ideas. Especially morra was many ideas. Its so hard to pick one and deepen the game in it. Grand prix i will try. Rossolimo i do like. Though its hard to have some ideas after the bishops are traded i try i occationally. I had some sucess with fianchetto variations but i think i will go for the morra...
Some rough statistics from another chess internet resource (rounding percentages down) :
All sicilians : 440k games, 36% wins for White, 27% draws
Alapin (2.c3) : 32k games, 34% wins for White, 30% draws
Open Sicilian against d6 : 110k games, 38% wins for White, 26% draws
Bb5+ against d6 : 16k games, 33% wins for White, 35% draws
2.Nf3 d6 3.c3: 7k games, 40% wins for White, 25% draws
Open Sicilian against Nc6 : 58k games, 36% wins for White, 28% draws
Rossolimo (Bb5 against Nc6) : 20k games, 42% wins for White, 29% draws
Delayed Alapin (2.Nf3 e6 3.c3) : 6k games, 34% wins for White, 30% draws
Open Sicilian against e6 : 60k games, 35% wins for White, 27% draws
KIA (d3 against e6) : 6K games, 37% wins for White, 27% draws
How to interpret those results ?
The Sicilian leads to fewer draws than other variations. Black knows this and opts for counterplay over safety. So there is a psychological argument for choosing a safe line as White. Unfortunately, the Alapin variation (2.c3) sacrifices a bit too much of the advantage of the first move, it might be resurrected by a spectacular innovation, but right now it looks too tame. The Rossolimo (2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5) looks like a better choice. Against e6, you can also consider the King's Indian Attack (2.Nf3 e6 3.d3). Against 2...d6, there is no theoretical support for 3.c3 (it does not transpose into the Alapin variation) but there seems to be a statistical support.
Conclusion : stay flexible against the Sicilian. You cannot have one recipe for such a complex opening. Playing 2.Nf3 and then different variations against 2...Nc6, 2...e6 and 2...d6 is an ambitious, instructive and entertaining policy. The psychological argument in favour of a safe line is not decisive, but as you're not a professional, don't try to absorb the theory of 3.d4 against all possible replies.
Also, in blitz, almost anything goes as the Sicilian is very sharp and never decided by 0.2 inaccuracies in the opening. But not everything is ambitious, entertaining and instructive :) .
+0.2 is roughly nothing until very high level games (that means, really long time controls and FIDE ratings over 2000 at least). Opening knowledge means much more. That is why I'm playing 2. b3, because most Sicilian players don't know this good (I also, and that makes the game interesting) due to its low popularity and totally different structure from all other Sicilian. The basic idea is to answer Bc4 if black tries to block the bishop on b2 with e7-e5 (which they quite like to do) with different threats to f7 and possibility to jump with a knight on d5.
As Sargon mentioned the Bb5 lines are pretty good and perfect for players who don't want to learn every open sicilian line. But if you want the totally awesome Sicilian experience™ you have to play the open lines. If you are really really lazy you can just play KIA against everything, but then everyone will judge you.
If you like attacking/aggressive chess, rather than positional, you'll love the Morra.
