hello lichess! I've been playing a lot of OTB chess and the Sicillian Najdorf is a tool I use often. Of late I've lost many games with it and all of them have arisen from opposite side castling and white mounting an attack on the kingside with f3, g4, h4 and continuing with the pawn storm. I haven't been able to find something that defuses the attack (I've tried stalling the pawns and trading pieces on the kingside to blunt the attack) or effectively counterattack on the queenside. How should I go about playing sicillian games with opposite side castling?
on 6 f3 you should strike in the center with 6...e5.
Playing an early h5 and delaying castling for a long time is a very good approach.
First of all, as usual: chess is concrete. There are hardly general answers to concrete positions. So, game please - don't let us down discussing escoteric things in vain.
Nevertheless: you cannot "stop" an attack. How will you stop someone throwing things at you?
You have to find counter-measures e.g. a strike in the center or the typical c-file counterplay including a minority attack with a- and b-pawns. Are you familiar with all the plans for Black at hand?
Outlook: what about the Caro-Kann? After a later ...c6-c5 the positions often resemble a Sicilian. And it is much quieter, generally speaking.
PS, edited: or a different Sicilian like the Kan? There's is no Englisch attack (f3, g4); yet not few trying to use it anyway lose a piece like this: lichess.org/0cE7pthe#18
Nevertheless: you cannot "stop" an attack. How will you stop someone throwing things at you?
You have to find counter-measures e.g. a strike in the center or the typical c-file counterplay including a minority attack with a- and b-pawns. Are you familiar with all the plans for Black at hand?
Outlook: what about the Caro-Kann? After a later ...c6-c5 the positions often resemble a Sicilian. And it is much quieter, generally speaking.
PS, edited: or a different Sicilian like the Kan? There's is no Englisch attack (f3, g4); yet not few trying to use it anyway lose a piece like this: lichess.org/0cE7pthe#18
@Chessminator172 I wouldn't try the Sicilian Najdorf until I'm at least 2000. You get demolished if you dont know any theory; it's pretty much a game of who knows more about the opening.
This especially applies to lower rated players because the moves seem counter-intuitive most of the time.
Sorry
Please do not spam the threads, @sruthinandan
I edited and asked sorry sir
Note that there are a lot of variations in the Najdorf where black doesn't even castle, especially in the 6.Bg5 lines.
Often times if your opponent g4, you can stop him by playing g5 yourself if you're not castled. But that requires precision and knowing theory.
For instance something like this : 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Be7 8. Qf3 Qc7
9. O-O-O h6 10. Bh4 Nbd7 11. g4 g5 12. fxg5 Ne5
I've played this line a couple of times with good results. The problem is, at our level people as white usually play boring variations and you don't get to play these fun lines often.
Often times if your opponent g4, you can stop him by playing g5 yourself if you're not castled. But that requires precision and knowing theory.
For instance something like this : 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Be7 8. Qf3 Qc7
9. O-O-O h6 10. Bh4 Nbd7 11. g4 g5 12. fxg5 Ne5
I've played this line a couple of times with good results. The problem is, at our level people as white usually play boring variations and you don't get to play these fun lines often.
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