[Event "Sicilian, Delayed Alapin Variation: Delayed Alapin, Intro"] [Date "2020.12.09"] [Result "*"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B50"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Delayed Alapin Variation, with d6"] [StudyName "Sicilian, Delayed Alapin Variation"] [ChapterName "Delayed Alapin, Intro"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/4t4vbspb/NBzcagVp"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/LongCalculations"] [UTCDate "2020.12.09"] [UTCTime "06:50:50"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c3 $10 { This is the Sicilian, Delayed Alapin Variation. Playing Nf3 before c3 has a variety of positives: firstly, if Black normally defends against the Alapin with d5, and decides to play d5 here, White has won a free tempo developing their Knight. This makes this variation more forcing, as Black is mostly required to respond with Nf6 to contest White's centre. } { [%csl Gd4,Bf6][%cal Gd2d4,Bg8f6] } *