MSL (3)--Playing the Sicilian

The Sicilian Defense has been at the cutting edge of opening theory at the top levels of grandmaster play for at least the last fifty years. The Najdorf variation of the Sicilian has been called the Cadillac of chess openings and World Champions Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov played it religously. The most dangerous approach for White these days against the Najdorf among the chess elite is a variation known as the English Attack.

Many chess teachers would advise younger players to avoid the Najdorf variation with its myriad complexities. Some would even advise more advanced players like me to avoid it unless we are willing to put in the time and effort to keep up with all the latest nuances from the latest grandmaster tournaments. I have certainly suffered some painful defeats at the hands of an opponent who was well versed in the latest wrinkles. On the other hand, I have also achieved my biggest successes with the Najdorf such as beating Chikwere Onyekwere (the Champion of Nigeria with a rating of 2273) at the US Open last summer. The fact of the matter is that it's fun to play the openings the pros play and fun is what we are in it for.

In the second round of the MSL Tournament, Prospect's first board Peter Dimopoulos lost the Black side of a Najdorf to an English Attack played by Fremd's Diana Yen. In this variation, the players usually castle on opposite sides of the board and launch their pawns at each others' kings with the hope of producing an early checkmate. Black is often faced with a choice between trying to slow down White's attack or ignoring it and trying to get their first with his own. Sometimes it is hard to do both, as Peter learned. Yen v Dimopoulos.