Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation
Encyclopedia
The Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defence
Sicilian Defence
The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4...

 is one of the most respected and deeply studied of all chess opening
Chess opening
A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...

s. Modern Chess Openings
Modern Chess Openings
Modern Chess Openings is an important reference book on the chess openings, first published in 1911 by the British players Richard Clewin Griffith and John Herbert White...

 calls it the Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...

 or Rolls Royce
Rolls-Royce (car)
This a list of Rolls-Royce motor cars and includes vehicles produced by:*Rolls-Royce Limited *Rolls-Royce Motors , which was owned by Vickers between 1980 and 1998, and after that by Volkswagen...

 of chess openings. The opening is named after the Polish-Argentinian Grandmaster Miguel Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf was a Polish-born Argentine chess grandmaster of Jewish origin, famous for his Najdorf Variation....

. Many players have lived by the Najdorf (notably Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...

 and Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....

, although Garry Kasparov would often transpose into a Scheveningen
Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation
In the opening of a game of chess, the Scheveningen Variation of the Sicilian Defence is one of Black's most ambitious lines in the Open Sicilian...

).

It begins thus:
1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 a6


Black's fifth move, 5... a6, aims to deny White the b5-square to his knights
Knight (chess)
The knight is a piece in the game of chess, representing a knight . It is normally represented by a horse's head and neck. Each player starts with two knights, which begin on the row closest to the player, one square from the corner...

 and light-squared bishop
Bishop (chess)
A bishop is a piece in the board game of chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops. One starts between the king's knight and the king, the other between the queen's knight and the queen...

 while maintaining flexibility in development.

If Black immediately plays 5...e5?! then after 6.Bb5+! Bd7 (or 6...Nd7 7.Nf5) 7.Bxd7+ Nxd7 8.Nf5 and the knight on f5 is difficult to dislodge without concessions.

Black's plan is usually to start a minority attack on the queenside and exert pressure on White's e4-pawn, which is often carried out by means of ...b5, ...Bb7, and placing a knight on c5.

6... Nbd7

Historically speaking this was the usual reply, until the mid-1960s when the rejoinder 7.Bc4 put that move out of business. Since then, however, Black has found ways to neutralise 7.Bc4, and currently the knight move is enjoying a revival.

6... e6

The main move. In the early days of the Najdorf 7.Qf3 was popular, but the reply 7...h6 did not allow White to create a very dangerous attack. Nowadays White players almost universally respond with: 7. f4. White threatens 8.e5 winning a piece, but Black has several options:
  • 7... Be7 8. Qf3 and now:
    • 8... Qc7 9. 0-0-0 Nbd7, this is called the old main line. At this point White usually responds with 10. g4 or 10. Bd3 after each of these moves there is a huge body of opening theory.
    • 8... h6 9. Bh4 g5. This is known as the Argentine/Goteborg Variation. It was first played in round 14 of 1955 Goteborg Interzonal
      Interzonal
      Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle.- Zonal tournaments :...

       simultaneously by Argentinian players Panno, Pilnik and Najdorf who were facing the Soviet Grandmasters Geller, Spassky and Keres. The games in question proceeded as follows: 10. fxg5 Nfd7 Black aims to route a knight to e5, and then back it up by a knight at d7 or c6. 11. Nxe6!? (Efim Geller
      Efim Geller
      Efim Petrovich Geller was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions...

      's discovery). 11... fxe6 12. Qh5+ Kf8 13. Bb5 here Panno and Najdorf played 13...Ne5, while Pilnik chose 13...Kg7. However, all three Argentine players lost in very short order and the line was, for a while, considered refuted. It was only in 1958 that Bobby Fischer
      Bobby Fischer
      Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...

       introduced the defensive resource 13... Rh7!, versus Svetozar Gligorić
      Svetozar Gligoric
      Svetozar Gligorić is a Serbian chess grandmaster. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is considered the best player ever from Serbia...

       at the Portorož
      Portorož
      - External links :**...

       Interzonal, in a critical last-round game. According to modern opening theory this position is a draw at best for White.
  • 7... Qb6 one of the most popular choices at master level.
    • 8. Qd2 the extremely complicated Poisoned Pawn Variation
      Poisoned Pawn Variation
      The Poisoned Pawn Variation is any of several chess opening variations where a pawn is said to be "poisoned" because its capture can result in positional problems or material loss for the captor. The best known of these, called the Poisoned Pawn Variation, is a line of the Sicilian Defense, Najdorf...

      : 8... Qxb2 9. Rb1 (9.Nb3 is the other less common option) 9... Qa3 and here White has played both 10. f5 and 10. e5. Both lead to extremely sharp play where slightest inaccuracy is fatal for either side. Since 2006, when it was played in several high level games, 10. e5 has become very popular. From the standpoint of the theory it is regarded as White's only attempt to play for a win against the poisoned pawn variation since all other variations (and that includes the other pawn move: 10. f5) have been analysed to a draw with best play. An example is the game Vallejo Pons
      Francisco Vallejo Pons
      Francisco Vallejo Pons is a chess Grandmaster from Spain. He was a chess prodigy, achieving the grandmaster title at the age of 16 years and 9 months, which makes him the 20th youngest player to ever become a grandmaster...

      Kasparov
      Garry Kasparov
      Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....

      , Moscow 2004, which was called "a model modern grandmaster draw!" by Kasparov himself in Revolution in the 70s (page 164).
    • 8. Nb3 White opts for a quiet game, but Black has nothing to worry about: 8... Be7 9. Qf3 Nbd7 10. 0-0-0 Qc7 where we have reached a set up very similar to that of the old main line mentioned above. However, without the d4-knight White will find it very hard to organise an attack.
  • 7... b5 the ultra-sharp Polugaevsky Variation. Black ignores White's threat and expands in Queenside. 8. e5 dxe5 9. fxe5 Qc7 here White either plays 10. exf6 Qe5+ 11. Be2 Qxg5 or 10. Qe2 Nfd7 11. 0-0-0 Bb7.
  • 7... Qc7 championed by Garry Kasparov
    Garry Kasparov
    Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....

     before he switched to playing 7...Qb6 exclusively.
  • 7... Nbd7 popularised by Boris Gelfand
    Boris Gelfand
    Boris Abramovich Gelfand is a Belarus-born Israeli chess Grandmaster. He won the 2011 Candidates Tournament and will challenge Viswanathan Anand for the World Chess Championship 2012.-Biography:...

    .
  • 7... Nc6?! is risky and of a dubious theoretical reputation due to the response: 8. e5!

English Attack (6. Be3)

This has become the modern main line. Since the early 1990s, the English Attack, 6. Be3 followed by f3, g4, Qd2 and 0-0-0 in some order, has become extremely popular and has been intensively analysed. Black has three main options:
  • The classical 6... e5.
  • Trying to transpose to the Scheveningen
    Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation
    In the opening of a game of chess, the Scheveningen Variation of the Sicilian Defence is one of Black's most ambitious lines in the Open Sicilian...

     by playing 6... e6. White can either opt for the standard English attack by playing 7. f3 or try the even sharper Hungarian attack (also known as Perenyi attack) by playing 7. g4.
  • The knight move: 6... Ng4. White continues with: 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3 Bg7 but the nature of this position is quite different from the ones arising after 6...e6 and 6...e5 so sometimes White tries to avoid the knight jump by playing 6. f3 instead of 6. Be3. However, aside from eliminating the option to play the Hungarian attack mentioned above, it gives Black other possibilities such as 6... Qb6 and 6... b5 instead.

Fischer–Sozin Attack (6. Bc4)

Introduced by Veniamin Sozin in the 1930s, this received little attention until Fischer regularly adopted it, and it was a frequent guest at the top level through the 1970s. White plays 6. Bc4 with the idea of playing against f7, so Black counters with 6... e6 7. Bb3 b5. The Sozin has become less popular because of 6... e6 7. Bb3 Nbd7 where Black intends to follow up with ...Nc5 later. It is possible to avoid the Nbd7 option with 7.0-0, but this cuts the aggressive possibility to castle long.

Classical Variation (6. Be2)

Because of the success of various players with these variations, White often plays 6. Be2 and goes for a quieter, more positional game, whereupon Black has the option of transposing into a Scheveningen Variation
Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation
In the opening of a game of chess, the Scheveningen Variation of the Sicilian Defence is one of Black's most ambitious lines in the Open Sicilian...

 by playing 6... e6 or keeping the game in Najdorf lines by playing 6... e5.

Other 6th moves for White

Beside the main lines mentioned above White has other options: 6. f4, 6. g3 and 6. h3 (the Adams
Weaver W. Adams
Weaver Warren Adams was an American chess master, author, and chess opening theoretician. His greatest competitive achievement was winning the U.S. Open Championship in 1948. He played in the U.S...

 Attack) are less common, but are also respected responses to the Najdorf. Moves such as 6. Rg1, 6. a4 and 6. Bd3 are rarely played, but are not so bad and may be used for surprise value.

External links

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