What is the possibility that White is in zugzwang on the first move? Impossible you say? What about the Poisoned Pawn Sicilian? 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2? According to Garry Kasparov, this position favors Black. When did White last have equality? Clearly, 8.Nb3 is possible, but then Black can play 8...Qc7 which might prompt White to play 9.Nd4 (I am not saying that this is best, but what if exhaustive analysis showed that 9.Nd4 was best offering a draw by repetition?) Then Black just plays 9...b5 with advantage i.e. he's got the Polugaevsky with an extra tempo (Qc7). Can White really do much better than 8...Qc7 9.Nd4?
What if, over centuries, it was possible to strip back the Sicilian and demonstrate that White doesn't have equality in the Poisoned Pawn Sicilian, and not with 7.f4, either, etc.?
What is the possibility that White is in zugzwang on the first move? Impossible you say? What about the Poisoned Pawn Sicilian? 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2? According to Garry Kasparov, this position favors Black. When did White last have equality? Clearly, 8.Nb3 is possible, but then Black can play 8...Qc7 which might prompt White to play 9.Nd4 (I am not saying that this is best, but what if exhaustive analysis showed that 9.Nd4 was best offering a draw by repetition?) Then Black just plays 9...b5 with advantage i.e. he's got the Polugaevsky with an extra tempo (Qc7). Can White really do much better than 8...Qc7 9.Nd4?
What if, over centuries, it was possible to strip back the Sicilian and demonstrate that White doesn't have equality in the Poisoned Pawn Sicilian, and not with 7.f4, either, etc.?