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T
he Najdorf Variation arises after 1 e4 c5 [The Sicilian Defense.] 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4
[This is the "Open" Sicilian. Although the idea of the Sicilian is to prevent White from establishing the pawn duo on
e4/d4 by cutting down White's center d-pawn for Black's wing c-pawn, the Open Sicilian is considered White's most aggressive line, as White gets quick development as compensation for Black's mass of central pawns.] cxd4
4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6!
[This is the characteristic move popularized by Miguel Najdorf and refined into a feared weapon in the hands of Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov. Technically the idea is to prepare the
space-gaining ... e7-e5; 5 ... e5 is not very good because of 6 Bb5+ and White will get a knight to f5. Also, now b5 is forever denied to White's knights, enabling the move ... e7-e5 as it will be much harder to exert
pressure against the resulting backward d-pawn on d6. However, Black usually only follows up with 6 ... e7-e5 after 6th moves by White such as 6 Be2, 6 g3, 6 Bd3 or 6 h3, which do not directly impact on the battle for
d5. On 6 Bc4 (controlling d5) or 6 Bg5 (potentially pinning the f6 knight which defends d5), Black should play 6 ... e6, not 6 ... e5. Other important 6th moves by White are 6 f4 and 6 Be3, in which case Black has the
choice between the thematic Najdorf 6 ... e5, and transposing to the Scheveningen Variation (also included in this Analysis Center) with 6 ... e6. Very tricky is 6 a4, after which Black should probably play 6 ... e6,
because after 6 ... e5 7 Nf3, White is ready to bring both bishops to the d5-impacting squares c4 and g5 - the point of 6 a4 was to prohibit the typical Black expansion ... b7-b5.]The 1995 Kasparov-Anand
World Championship match saw Vishy Anand obtain fair success with the "quiet" 6 Be2 e6 [transposing to a Scheveningen] 7 O-O Be7 8 a4 Qc7 9 f4 system. White's most ambitious anti-Najdorf system is 6 Bg5 e6 7
f4, after which Black can choose: 7 ... Be7 (the main line), 7 ... Qb6 (the Poisoned Pawn), 7 ... b5 (the Polugaevsky), 7 ... Qc7 (a risky line Kasparov has experimented with) and 7 ... Nc6 (a little-known line in this
exact position). |
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