Sicilian Alapin 5.Nf3 Mistery

After 1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4, why is Nf3 played here instead of normal cxd4? Other then being a cheap trick if Black get's greedy and take on c3? It gives White more options or limits Black's in some way? I read the book "The c3 Sicilian" by IM Sam Collins and he just say that it's advisable to throw this move in, but doesn't give an explanation for it.

5 cxd4 also gets played, though less frequently than 5 Nf3.
One finesse is, that 5 cxd4 d6 6 Bc4 Nb6 7 Bb5+ Bd7 8 e6 Bxb5 is playable for black, while 5 Nf3 d6 6 Bc4 Nb6 7 Bb3 dxe5 8 Nxe5 is good for white, the difference is the move 8 Nxe5 enabled by 5 Nf3.
So after 5 Nf3 black should play either 5...e6 or 5...Nc6, as the option 5...d6 is unattractive.

Seems good. Thanks for quick reply tpr. 5.cxd4 is actually retarded, because of 5...d6. Also, giving up light-squared Bishop is a funeral for White. 5.Nf3 it is.

Thanks

In my opinion it's the other way round if Black wants to play with d6+e6 and usually starts with e6. Then White has the good move f4 with a positional plus. d6 followed by dxe5 fxe5 Qh4 g3 Qe4 Kf2 Qh1 Nf3 is also better for white.

So, my recommendation then is cxd4. If Black plays e6 then f4+/-, but Black has no problems with d7-d6, then after f4?! the B can be used on f5 or g4 later. So Black has to be careful with an early e6.

Maybe best is to tweak the move order by looking what your opponent usually aims for.

Maybe I can show some games with f2-f4 played successfully by a friend (FM) even against stronger opponents. I remember that GM Karsten Müller asked me if he is allowed to use it for training purposes... :D

And yet another issue: delaying cxd4 with 5.Bc4?! is more or less dubious because of 5. ... Qc7! White struggles for equality if at all.

Here is a concrete example

I looked at some stem games and maybe it is slightly exaggerated but I always had problems when I played an early e6 and White answered f4. If there was no Nf3 I played d6 first before e6.

This is a game of a friend of mine (FM) vs. an IM. Not exactly the move-order but the theme stands.



And, as mentioned before "tricks" like this should be ok for White.



But, I not quite up-to-date because I played other lines recently.

Those are very nice games indeed. Beautiful sacrifice on f5!! However, Black played 5...e6 and 5...b6 in those games which I consider mistakes,even though d6 was played after. I will go even that far to say that the only move for Black that makes sense is 5...d6. This is very similar to Alekhine's Defense which I play against with my pawns on c4 d4 e5. 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6 4.d4 and now 4...d6 must be played to destroy White's centre. I consider 4...e6 suicide (1.It doesn't address problem in the centre. 2.It shuts down Light-square Bishop who would be very effective pinning down f3 Knight.) So...After White played 5.cxd4, Black need to play 5...d6. After 5.Nf3, 5...d6 isn't that effective as we already discussed, so the main move is 5...Nc6. This are just my opinions and you guys don't have to agree with me.

I don't think that ...e6 generally is bad, it's just bad when white has the possibilty of playing f4. That's my opinion, I had lots of good games with ...e6. See this game played in the "Oberliga":



or this was played at a simultaneous display by IM Lizzy Paethz. I showed no mercy for the lady!