Grand Prix attack avoided?

I'm going to be facing a (much) higher rated opponent in an upcoming tournament game, and I happen to know he meets White's attempt at going Grand Prix with:

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 followed by ...b5 and Bb7. I've never played a "proper" closed Sicilian in my life, so I'm out of my water on move two :P 

Hmm maybe it's time to bring back the Smith-Morra gambit... unless of course you have an inspired idea :)

1. d4 handles the Sicilian quite nicely! :)

Does he play the 2...a6 sicilian as well?

If yes then 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.c3! is better for u

If no, then I don't see no problem with 3.f4 but 3.Nf3 is nice as well and quite better for white

clunney wrote:

1. d4 handles the Sicilian quite nicely! :)

A good reason I gave up 1.e4 was because of open Sicilian lines. In my first Long OTB game I played 1. d4 c5 and not knowing anything about the position played 2. Nf3 - Then after 2... cxd3. Nxd4 I found myself pretty much playing the white side of the Sicilian. Oh dear.

To the OP - have you considered the line 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3.a4!?

In one of Richard Pallisers books he gives this line for white as being strong, and it buggers up whites plan of a smooth b5/ queenside expansion.

BY ALL MEANS dont follow clunney's suggestion of 1.d4. You'll be more "out of the water" than ever.

RosieChristensen gave a nice answer i was about to give as my 3rd alternative, but it's not very GP-like. It is += though.

Or reply 2...Nc6 and 3...g6.  2...a6 is an unnecessary pawn move whereas ...b5 and the queenside is loose.  It's a major trump for white in the Ruy Lopez, why give white a b-pawn to bop at without being provoked to? 

...a6 does have some transpositional potential however to keep pieces off b5, but only do the bare minimum needed for defense:

Good point, it's not totally in keeping with GP play, but then in this closed Sicilian-type of game it's very hard to find something that is.

Mr. OoogieWoogie I think the OP is trying to find lines for white, not black.

I chose d4 simply because it's better and more fun than e4 :)

Funny enough though, when my opponent plays 1. ...c5 (the old Benoni) I play 2. e4, since I'd rather play an unsound gambit than that stupid old Benoni! :p

3. Bc4 b5 4. Bd5, although I doubt he'd play b5 immediately. I play the Scotch because I saw a game where Kasparov defeated the Grand Prix in recent memory. If 3. ..e6 then 4. a3

Well, if you give up playing certain opening lines because Kasparov defeated them then you may as well resign on move 1.

And clunney that looks like a good line, do you play into smith morra territory?

I feel the same about playing d4 to avoid the Sicilian

I love playing against the Sicilian.

Why yes Rosie, I love the Morra Gambit :) As bad as it may be! I wouldn't dare play it against a 2200+, but under that, it could not possibly be refutable (IM Marc Esserman plays it regularly... He's pretty good I hear!).

Eh, I give up the off beat ones.

playing 2.nf3 and then 3.c3! (delayed  alapin) is great as it puts black's second move alternatives out of comission.

Otherwise, the Morra Gambit is quite a good option, as even though you give up a pawn, black must be really cautious else his 2 lost tempi might as well make him lose the game. And personally, playing the Morra against my computer, set up at around a 1400 rating, I managed to win!

 Only thing, better know what is your plan. After 2...cxd4 3.c3!? dxc3(?!/!?), white's fourth move is Nxc3 and after that it's just developping your pieces according to theory: Knight before Bishops, castle kingside, and get your a-rook on the now open(for you) c-file.

Also be prepared that black might decline your gambit:

3...d3 4.Bxd3, and eventually: c4 to keep control of the center, Nd2 (or Nc3) and Nf3, bishop developpement, and as always kingside castling:

3...e5!? 4.cxd4, eventually Nf3, Nxd4 and Nc3. The rest is up to you:

3...d5!? 4.exd5, followed, as is the aim of the Morra, by rapid developpement: (however, it is a smart idea to exchange the pawns in the center)

Of course, there are other ways to decline the gambit, but after studying the above 3 for 5 minutes, you should feel good about facing them.

3.g3! leads to a closed sicilian with an extra tempo

dpcarballo wrote:

3.g3! leads to a closed sicilian with an extra tempo

I would disagree, there is no real loss of tempo, and it scores relatively badly on the databases.

He can try the Smith-Morra, but you really have to know what you're doing.  The Kopec Variation might be worth it: