Download PGN of January '06 Anti-Sicilian games
Rossolimo [B30 & B51/52]
Chandler - Rogers is a gentle warm-up in a line that is not particularly hot theoretically. I showed it mainly because it is easy for Black to become worse in these backwaters, and it is worth pointing out that in the structures that arise from Black playing ...Nd4, White taking and then targeting the c-pawn:
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as a rule of thumb (but not the whole hand) Black should prefer ...g6 followed by ...Bg7 rather than the ...Bc5 played here, as pointed out by David Bronstein many moons ago.
I watched the post-mortem of Mcshane - Shaw and it merely confirmed my feeling that the lines where Black takes back on c6 with the d-pawn and then allows an exchange of dark-squared bishops are favourable to White.
Nyysti - Grischuk is a little dated, but I was asked to examine the line 2...Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 (or 2...d6 3 Bb5+ Nc6) and I wanted to see the highest level game with what feels to me like the most natural continuation:
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As far as I can make out, Black is absolutely fine in these lines, but I fear I might be missing something.
Macieja - Aronian is theoretically quite important. Black's play is ambitious but also logical, in one of the main lines of 3...d6.
Sepp - Moiseenko is a much quieter line, but an impressive display from the young Ukranian, showing how quickly Black can take the initiative if White doesn't follow-through after setting up with g4:
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There are a few lines within 3.Bb5 d6 that we still need to examine, including those with an early c3 when the bishop goes back to a4, and the line favoured by Adams with an early h3, but that will be considered in good time.
There was quite a positive response to the September update where I gave my thoughts on the solid answer to 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7 Qxd7:
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Helgi from the Faroe Islands was particularly intrigued by an idea considered in the game Laine - Ward.
Closed Sicilian [B23]
I was also asked for my thoughts on 2.Nc3 a6!?:
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And I give them in the notes to the game Wang - Bu
Queenside Fianchetto [B40]
Finally, just a class game from a class player who is, in the terms of chess discourse, returning to 'form'. De la Riva-Ponomariov shows how a former FIDE World Champion deals with the line 2.Nf3 e6 3.b3!?:
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His answer, 3...Nf6, followed later by ...g6 was very thematic, and although there are certainly improvements for White, the whole idea makes a very coherent impression.
That's all for now. There are still a few readers' letters to deal with, but keep them coming and I'll get round to answering them sooner or later!
Happy February! Jonathan
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