The Anti-Sveshnikov.

If you are like me, you stray from long positional games, and prefer to play in Tal's spirit. So likely you play 1. e4. And Black's most popular response*, the Sicilian Defense, usually offers pretty exciting positions - Najdorf (you can check out my reccomendation against Najdorf here), Taimanov, Dragon etc. But there is one Sicilian, that differs from the rest. The Sveshnikov (2. Nc6 followed by e5). The games there are still quite dynamic, but the opening doesn't lead to attacking chess.

*depending on the level, the higher the rating, the more popular sicilian is.

To avoid the e5 Sicilians, White usually opts for a Rossolimo, with 3. Bg5, sometimes a delayed Alapin with 3. c3. But theese openings don't offer attacking chess aswell. But White has another option. A waiting move 3. Nc3. Black now has to show their hands. They have 3 options:

• Transpose to other, more aggresive sicilians, after wchich we achieved our goal of avoiding the Sveshnikov.
• Mimic us with the flexible Nf6. 4. d4 by White would lead to the Sveshnikov, but White can enter a better version of Rossolimo instead with 4. Bg5.
• Immedietate e5, keeping the position somewhat tame, and turning the game more positional. And this unnatural, but very solid move will be the topic of my analysis. Specifically the Be7 Nf6 setup by Black.

Before we start

Black can avoid all lines shown in this blog, by switching up the move order. But I still think going 3. Nc3 is worth it, as you can get some beautiful games (one variation has 11 brilliant moves, but it so rare, it might never happen).

What I would reccomend for you dynamics enjoyers is O-O, Ng5 and f4.

And if you are looking to attack at all costs, you can meet Nc6 with the slighty dubious b4!? - the Portsmouth Gambit. It's up to you to decide if you want to take the risk and play this slighty dubious gambit. Having said all that, let's get this party started!

Ng5!? a rare but deadly surprise.

This move at first looks stupid, since Black defend f7 by castling, and play h6 to kick the knight out. But this is the whole idea of Ng5!? - we are not going back. h4! disallows Black from capturing the knight. And White can create checkmate threats with Qh5. Since the f6 knight defends that, we first have to trade it off with Nd5. We can also exploit the pinned f7 pawn, and after Qh5 h6, we can play Qg6 rethreatning chechmate.

Theese threats and ideas force Black to react fast and precisely. But first let's see what happens, if Black doesn't realize our plans, and plays natural moves.

Taking the bait - h6

As you already know, we aren't scared of h6, so we continue with our plan - Nd5!! looking to trade the f6 knight and get our queen to h5.

Black playing h6 is an admission, they aren't prepared, so you will win a lot of games there. But the longer the time control and the stronger the player, the less often you will face this move, as it's not that hard to realize h6 isn't a great move. So let's see what else can Black do.

'Most' problematic response - Na5

Na5 is the only move with a positive score for Black (47-48%*). Looks very problematic at first, but I have another trick for you, f4! (64-36%*) Threatning fxe5, f5 and if Black captures, e5. And it is so easy to go wrong with Black again.

* from Lichess' explorer tool, 400-2500+ rating range, all time controls.

Even though Na4 looks very logical and annoying at first, White can launch a deadly attack with f4-f5. Against d5 - computer's recomendation, White still retains a sizeable edge. So if you remember the f4 idea, you will a lot of find succes here aswell.

Other than h6 and Na5, Black plays d6 pretty often, so let's see how White should play for the advantage there,

Natural move - d6

We continue with our plan Nd5. Other than h6 (analyzed in previous chapter) Black can only take the knight. We recapture with the bishop, achieving our goal of trading the defender of h5. And Black has to be extremely percise to not lose in a few next moves.

After d6 you are guaranteed an attack. Black struggles to defend the dark squares, but they can put up some resistance if they know the g6 move. Don't worry though, you are still much better, and it's played in only about 2%* of games.

Now there is one rare move Played only 7 times in 3750 games*, but often played by Masters - Nb4. It's hard to figure out for Black if they don't know our ideas, but actually poses some problems for the White pieces.

* from Lichess' explorer tool, 400-2500+ rating range, all time controls.

Master level response - Nb4

What I believe to be the best response practically speaking. Black deals with the Nd5 threat, and prepares a counter-strike - d5. This move sadly guarantees exchange of pieces, and makes our threats less lethal. Don't wory though, this move is played in less than 0.2% of games, so, chances are, you will never even face it.

I didn't go very in-depth on this variaton, since it's so rare, and I see no practical value in analyzing it deeper. But there is this cool variation with 11 brilliant moves.

Thank you for reading <3

Study link: Leave a heart:3
Youtube link, because why not: No educational content here sadly

No bonus game this time. I have played this only once, and i won such a fast game with 2 brilliant moves, but chess.com refuses to show it to me. And I don't remember the moves.

Thank you so much for reading and for the support! I have at least 2 more aggresive openings in mind, against the French (which has been surrounded by some controversy lately) and against the Taimanov. And an Anti-Réti repertoire for you 1... d5 enjoyers.